Packed Facilities, Expensive Treatment and Insurance Non-Coverage Are Blamed NEW YORK (AP) - As the ranks of heroin users rise, increasing numbers of addicts are looking for help but are failing to find it-because there are no beds in packed facilities, treatment is hugely expensive and insurance companies won't pay for inpatient rehab. Some users overcome their addictions in spite of the obstacles. But many, like Salvatore Marchese, struggle and fail. In the course of Marchese's five-year battle with heroin, the young man from Blackwood, N.J., was repeatedly denied admission to treatment facilities, often because his insurance company wouldn't cover the cost. After abusing marijuana and prescription painkillers as a teenager, Marchese had turned to heroin for a cheaper high. [continues 701 words]
In Many Cases, Insurance Won't Cover Rehab Costs [Cumberland] EDITOR'S NOTE - The death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman underscored a troubling development: Heroin, long a scourge of the back alleys of American life, has spread across the country. Second of a three-part series. NEW YORK - As the ranks of heroin users rise, increasing numbers of addicts are looking for help but are failing to find it - because there are no beds in packed facilities, treatment is hugely expensive and insurance companies won't pay for inpatient rehab. [continues 640 words]