Study: Substance-abuse treatment still costs patients more

Patients with substance-abuse issues are still paying more for in-patient treatment than others who seek hospital care, according to a new study.

The Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), a research group, found the average hospital admission for substance-abuse treatment cost patients $889 in 2011, or 12 percent of the treatment's total cost.

This out-of-pocket figure was 8 percent higher than what patients paid for an average medical or surgical hospital admission and 2 percent higher than the cost of a mental-health admission. 

The HCCI expressed concern about the differences, given that the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act was supposed to eliminate them for substance-abuse treatments.

According to the report, substance-abuse admissions rose by about 20 percent in 2011 among adults with employer-based healthcare coverage.

Mental-health admissions, meanwhile, grew by about 6 percent, while medical and surgical admissions declined by about 2 percent.

HCCI used data from insurance companies that cover about 40 percent of the market for its analysis.

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