Social Safety Nets – Opiate Nation

Who Is My Neighbor?

(Sixteenth in a series of topical blogs based on chapter by chapter excerpts from Opiate Nation. Translation into most languages is available to the right.)

(I am re-posting this blog due to a glitch on some platforms in January)

In 2020, overdose deaths have increased worldwide, and by as much as 25% in the US. Deaths from acute intoxication have also increased dramatically. People are isolated and anxious, their treatment and recovery programs have been disrupted, and the illicit drug supply has become dangerous. Health officials believe that the majority of these deaths have occurred because hospitals are full and emergency services are overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients, thus removing the urgent, lifesaving care of overdose reversal that has been established in the past few years. Funding for all mental health services has also been diverted to pandemic care, which has complicated access to basic resources. Suicides are rising at an alarming rate.

A conversation that I believe is relevant to the current times came to mind this week. A lawyer asked Jesus “Who is my neighbor?” as he was trying to wriggle out of the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus told him about a man beaten and robbed while on a journey. As the man lay almost dead on the road, he was passed by several religious leaders who refused to help him. Then a man, who was not the same nationality or religion, came and bandaged and rescued him and paid for his care until he was well. Jesus asked the lawyer, “Which of these men proved to be a neighbor?” The lawyer replied, “The one who showed compassion.” Jesus responded, “Go and do the same.” *

If my son were alive today during the Covid-19 pandemic…..

I would fear for his life more than ever.

“Drug Overdoses Soaring: Suspected overdoses nationally jumped 18% in March, 29% in April, 42% in May, data from ambulance teams, hospitals, and police shows.”

As a young man in America who wanted more than anything to be free of his deadly heroin addiction, how would he be weathering the Covid-19 pandemic?

“The drug-overdose-and-death epidemic already was hurting communities before COVID-19, but during the pandemic there have been reports from every region of the country on spikes in opioid-related calls to first responders, visits to emergency rooms, fentanyl and tainted-drug-related overdoses. There also have been challenges to accessing sterile needle and syringe and exchange services.”

SAFETY NETS

On August 7, 2018, Rolling Stone reported that Demi Lovato was given Narcan (naloxone) by paramedics in response to a drug overdose after 6 years of sobriety.“I want to thank God for keeping me alive and well,” she said. Yes, God – He works through people and available medications. After 2 weeks in the hospital, she entered rehab. I imagine she has health insurance for hospital expenses and the rehab costs should be no question considering her career.

But how many other Americans battling addiction are not insured – or under-insured – or insured without mental health or rehab coverage, as our son was? And how many can afford the costs of detox, rehab, medications, and long-term recovery programs? Here are some average costs:
Outpatient detox: $1500
Inpatient rehab: 30 days, up to $30,000 / 60-90 days, up to $90,000 or more
Medication: Methadone $5,000 yr / Suboxone $200-600 mo
Sober Living Homes: $500-$2000 mo

Opioid addiction needs detox, rehab, medication, and then – as has been proven time and time again – at least a year of sober living and perhaps a lifetime of medication – along with a 12-step community. Where is a student or an unemployed or under-insured addict supposed to go when there are no safety nets in our society?

The New York Times August 8, 2018 article “Too Little Too Late: Bankruptcy Booms Among Older Americans” – another group for whom safety nets have disappeared. In a study from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, “A three-decade shift of financial risk has occurred from government and employers to individuals – who are bearing an ever-greater responsibility for their own financial well-being as the social safety net shrinks…older Americans turn to what little is left – bankruptcy court.”

We, as a society, should be ashamed of this. Are we so independently minded and lacking in empathy that we cannot accept the need to collectively care for the weak among us – those in need – with social safety nets? In previous generations, families took care of their own – from birth until death. But as modern society has shifted from rural and communal to urban and individualistic, there is a need for we as a society to have safety nets in place.

Our daughter and family live in Australia. They are the beneficiaries of one of the best single-pay health systems in the world. When we tell friends about it, the response is, “They have socialized medicine, right? They can’t get medical care when they need it and people die on the streets.” As the conversation continues, we hear they are a socialist country and lack freedoms we enjoy. None of this is true. They enjoy a very good standard of living and pay higher taxes – taxes that provide a safety net for each and every citizen.

As the opioid epidemic continues to take the lives of so many, leaving families destroyed, we need to not only acknowledge that addiction is a disease that can be treated with medication, rehab, and community, but also fight for a health insurance system – a social safety net – that cares for Americans from birth through death.