title: The impact of insurance status on drug abuse treatment completion.
abstract: This article discusses the impact of insurance status on drug abuse treatment completion in a not-for-profit organization, presents demographic findings, mentions financial obstacles to paying for treatment, and describes the relationship between different variables: treatment modalities versus type of drug, treatment modality versus length of stay, reason for discharge versus type of drug, and reason of discharge versus treatment status (completed/not completed). Baseline data (n = 6,539) for the period 1990-1997 was analyzed. For the insurance status analysis we randomly selected and analyzed 1,153 client entries. A statistical software package (STATA) was used for a combination of bivariate and multivariate analysis. Our results indicated, consistent with expectations, that lack of health insurance is associated significantly with not completing treatment. Therefore, new strategies and mechanisms of payment should be created to overcome these obstacles and facilitate treatment completion for clients without insurance coverage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: McGeary
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Shultz
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: McCoy
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011897:Random Allocation; D012114:Residential Treatment / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy*