New westside location for The River Source The River Source has opened their newest IOP treatment center in the center of Phoenix on Peoria Avenue directly off the 1-17....
New westside location for The River Source
The River Source has opened their newest IOP treatment center in the center of Phoenix on Peoria Avenue directly off the 1-17. Due to the Peoria Avenue address the center has been nicknamed the “Peoria Campus.”
The River Source provides professional, caring, affordable treatment that treats the whole person to heal and restore balance to the mind, body and spirit and has a strong, proven track record of success since their founding in 2003.
Peoria Campus, 2432 W. Peoria is conveniently located off Phoenix area freeways for all Phoenix-area patients, and it is a good mid-point for all patients from both the West Valley and North Phoenix areas.
The IOP consists of 24 sessions over a two month period — 3 hour sessions, 3 times a week, and provides individualized treatment plans, regular drug screenings and breathalyzers for the well-being and safety of all patients.
MHN/Health Net and most Out of Network Plans are accepted. The cash pay rate is affordable and reasonable. The River Source provides free phone consultations for professional pre-assessment, benefits checks, and potential payment plan options.
The River Source IOP is a treatment service and support program used primarily to treatment chemical dependency in situations when intensive residential services are not required. Call 1-866-251-0639 and visit www.theriversource.org
Insurance Plans not Covering Necessary Services for People with Addiction
A new report finds insurance plans around the country are not covering the necessary services for people with addiction. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reviewed addiction benefits offered in the 2017 Essential Health Benefits benchmark plans and found more than two-thirds violate the Affordable Care Act.
None of the plans are adequate, the report concluded. “Our findings reveal that people with addiction may not be receiving effective treatment because insurance plans aren’t covering the full range of evidence-based care,” Lindsey Vuolo, JD, MPH, Associate Director of Health Law and Policy at The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, and lead author of the report, said in a news release. “For example, our review did not find a single state that covers all of the approved medications used to treat opioid addiction.”
The Essential Health Benefits benchmark plans determine which addiction benefits are available to the 12.7 million people who are insured under Affordable Care Act plans. Substance use disorder services must be covered under the law, since they are designated as an Essential Health Benefit.
“We’e still a long way from treating addiction like a disease,” said Samuel A. Ball, PhD, President and CEO at The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. “Insurers are still not providing the same level of benefits for addiction treatment and services as they do for medical or surgical care. The absence of sufficient coverage for medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction is particularly alarming given the number of people dying or suffering on a daily basis. This kind of health care discrimination would never be tolerated during an epidemic for any other life-threatening disease.”
Opioid Epidemic puts new focus on Sober Housing on College Campuses
The opioid epidemic is increasing interest in college sober housing, PBS News Hour reported. Sober dorms offer substance-free housing and activities for students in recovery from addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Rutgers University in New Jersey pioneered the concept of sober housing in 1988, the article notes. Governor Chris Christie (NJ) signed legislation last year requiring all state college and universities to offer sober housing if at least one-quarter of students live on campus. Schools have four years to comply.
Texas Tech has had substance-free housing since 2011, while Oregon State University will offer sober housing this coming school year. The University of Vermont launched a recovery program in 2010, which includes sober housing.
Sober dorms are a “major new development in the recovery movement. They’re unique because they get to the heart of the beast,” said Dr. Robert DuPont, who heads the drug policy think tank the Institute for Behavior and Health, and served as White House Drug Chief from 1973 to 1977. In college, he said, “You’re surrounded by people who are using alcohol and drugs in addictive ways. Someone else is paying the bills and there’s no supervision.”
More than 35 percent of American college students say they have had more than five drinks in one sitting in the past two weeks, and 43 percent of college students say they have been drunk in the past month, the article notes. Daily marijuana use has more than tripled in the past 20 years among full-time college students.
