Pubdate: Sun, 19 Dec 2004
Source: Stillwater News Press (OK)
Copyright: 2004 Stillwater News Press
Contact:  http://www.stwnewspress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/789
Author: Tara Roberson

HIDDEN COST OF DRUG ABUSE

Locally, illegal drug use and widespread alcohol consumption do not
have a huge impact on taxpayers. Nationally, however, it costs every
taxpayer big money.

Karen Hendren, Stillwater Medical Center's chief financial officer,
said SMC will write off about $160,000 for the months of January to
November 2004. This is $160,000 in services that were not paid for by
those who have been treated in the emergency room for drug overdoses
or alcohol poisoning.

SMC is a not-for-profit hospital, meaning all the money it makes goes
directly back into the facility.

"In the total book of business here, that is a very small fraction of
what we do," she said. "However, that is still $160,000 that will not
be put back into the hospital to pay for equipment and other needs."

Hendren said the hospital saw few drug overdoses in 2004. She said the
hospital ran statistics for drug overdoses in all age groups and found
there were 22 that came through the ER. Of those, 17 were children
younger than 10 who had gotten into a parent's medication.

She said when they ran the numbers for any overdose or poisoning for
people older than 10, including attempted suicides, there were 70
cases in 2004. More than 60 of those cases sought emergency treatment
for alcohol poisoning.

Hendren said the hospital does not want to see any cases like these,
but 70 seems like a low number for a community this size.

"I have no way of knowing what the numbers are for hospitals in other
communities about our size, but I would say that number is pretty low,
especially for a college town," she said.

Hendren said the total amount of fees for drug and alcohol-related
treatment in the first 11 months of 2004 totaled about $260,000 and
that the hospital expected to be get less than $100,000 of that paid
by insurance.

"The write-off amount is fees we will never collect," she
said.

She said unpaid fees are investigated and patients are divided into
two groups: those who have not paid, but have the ability to pay; and
those who are not able to pay.

The fees incurred by those who are determined to not have the ability
to pay are written off and funded by hospital resources.

This has a direct effect on the community because the costs to run the
hospital have to come from somewhere.

Hendren said of the 70 cases in the past 11 months, nine were
Medicaid/Medicare patients and 23 had no health insurance. That means
the 38 people who did have coverage paid almost half of the $260,000
total through their insurance companies.

Hendren said the write-off amount on drug and alcohol-related cases at
SMC would probably be a lot higher if the hospital had drug or alcohol
rehabilitation services. She said those services require specialized
facilities that SMC does not have the room or the funding to maintain.

On the national level, every taxpayer and each person who pays for
health insurance picks up the tab for those who can't afford to pay
for treatment.

According to statistics compiled by the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, the societal costs of illegal drug use will top $180
billion in 2005.

That's $180,000,000,000.

This is an estimate based on a 5.6 percent increase in costs that was
set forth in the last study the ONDCP conducted in 2000. At that time,
the costs had reached $160.7 billion per year -- up from $102 billion
in 1992.

According to the study by the ONDCP and a study by the Centers for
Disease Control, these costs encompass health costs, productivity
costs and other costs like incarceration and legal fees.

These are costs incurred by people who do not have insurance, often do
not have jobs and do not pay for services provided to them to help
treat their drug problems.

Those who have jobs, do not use drugs and have insurance pick up the
$180 billion tab.

The ONDCP study states most of its numbers are based on estimates --
it is difficult to calculate how much money is lost when workers in
all lines fail to show for their jobs because they are high, hungover,
sick with a drug-related illness or in jail as a result of a drug
arrest. It also stated that detailed, observed data was not yet
available for 2000 when the study was compiled.

However, the study projected that drug and alcohol-related health care
costs were expected to top $19 billion in 2005 and productivity losses
would top $115 billion.

The only area where costs have dropped in the last decade are on
social welfare services, like food stamps. The only reason the
expenditures dropped from an all-time high of $24.3 billion in 1996
was because drug-related disorders were no longer accepted as a basis
for Supplemental Security Income.

However, costs of enforcement, prevention, education, state and
federal corrections and legal adjudication continue to rise.
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MAP posted-by: Derek