LAT: Fewer alcoholics are seeking treatment: Benefit cuts play role [View All]

LAT: Fewer alcoholics are seeking treatment
Despite new drugs and insights into causes, millions don't get help. Benefit cuts play a role.

By Kevin W. McCullough, Special to The Times


....Even as scientists have gained a better understanding of the nature of alcoholism and more effective treatments have become available, fewer people are getting help. Fewer than one in 10 of the more than 20 million alcoholics in the United States are diagnosed each year, according to a recent study by researchers at George Washington University Medical Center....(F)ewer than half receive any type of treatment. The number of Americans entering alcoholism treatment programs has been declining steadily, dropping by more than 23% between 1993 and 2003, the latest year for which federal statistics are available....

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As new drugs are developed and treatment improves, why are fewer people getting help?

The answer to that question is complex. Certainly, the social stigma of alcoholism and patients' unwillingness, or denial, to acknowledge their drinking as a serious problem remain issues. But some more immediate factors are exacerbating the problem, experts said.

According to a 2004 federal report, the average cost of outpatient substance abuse treatment was $1,433 in 2002, while inpatient treatment averaged $3,840. But some private inpatient treatment programs are much more costly. At Hazelden, for example, a 30-day inpatient stay can cost $20,000, notes Moyers.

Groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous are free or inexpensive, but behavioral therapy is only one part of treating an alcoholic's addiction, and the groups cannot provide professional therapy, help with the acute effects of withdrawal or prescribe drugs to manage recovery. Many people simply can't get access to treatment programs if they are unable to afford them....


http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-alcoholism19sep19,0,1247777.story?coll=la-home-health