ERIC Number: ED387716
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1994
Pages: 30
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Health Reform for Communities: Financing Substance Abuse Services. Recommendations from a Join Together Policy Panel.
Join Together, Boston, MA.
Substance abuse treatment has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing not only substance use, but also the economic, health, and social costs associated with substance abuse. This document examines how health care reform can preserve and enhance community substance abuse services. The cost effectiveness of funding substance abuse prevention activities is explored, and mechanisms for providing funding are suggested. The relationship between substance abuse treatment and health care reform is discussed. An overview of the substance abuse treatment system is provided. A panel of coalition leaders was formed to create financing for substance abuse treatment and the following recommendations were offered: (1) substance abuse treatment should be financed through the same sources that fund general health care; (2) prevention should be adequately financed through a combination of public and private sector funding sources; (3) the nation must make a commitment to adopt and enforce cost containment mechanisms to control the rise in health care costs; (4) there should be universal and timely access to substance abuse diagnosis and appropriate treatment services; (5) a broad continuum of substance abuse treatment services must be available to all; (6) substance abuse treatment should be managed and coordinated with essential human services to encourage the delivery of appropriate cost-effective care; and (7) standard health care benefits should cover the cost of clinical preventive education, brief intervention counseling, and/or referral for alcohol, tobacco, and other drug problems. Contains 17 references. (SR)
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, New Brunswick, NJ.
Authoring Institution: Join Together, Boston, MA.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A