Best Blue Shield

A Health insurance policy is a contract between an insurance company and an individual. The contract can be renewable annually or monthly. The type and amount of health care costs that will be covered by the health plan are specified in advance, in the member contract or Evidence of Coverage booklet. The individual policy-holder's payment obligations may take several forms:

Premium: The amount the policy-holder pays to the health plan each month to purchase health coverage.

Deductible: The amount that the policy-holder must pay out-of-pocket before the health plan pays its share. For example, a policy-holder might have to pay a $500 deductible per year, before any of their health care is covered by the health plan. It may take several doctor's visits or prescription refills before the policy-holder reaches the deductible and the health plan starts to pay for care.

Copayment: The amount that the policy-holder must pay out of pocket before the health plan pays for a particular visit or service. For example, a policy-holder might pay a $45 copayment for a doctor's visit, or to obtain a prescription. A copayment must be paid each time a particular service is obtained.

The term health insurance is generally used to describe a form of insurance that pays for medical expenses. It is sometimes used more broadly to include insurance covering disability or long-term nursing or custodial care needs. It may be provided through a government-sponsored social insurance program, or from private insurance companies. It may be purchased on a group basis or purchased by individual consumers. In each case, the covered groups or individuals pay premiums or taxes to help protect themselves from high or unexpected healthcare expenses. Similar benefits paying for medical expenses may also be provided through social welfare programs funded by the government. Health insurance works by estimating the overall risk of healthcare expenses and developing a routine finance structure that will ensure that money is available to pay for the healthcare benefits specified in the insurance agreement. The benefit is administered by a central organization, most often either a government agency or a private or not-for-profit entity operating a health plan.

Addiction Treatment Medications

Medications help with different aspects of the treatment process.

Withdrawal

Medications can suppress withdrawal symptoms during detoxification. However, medically assisted detoxification is not in itself "treatment." Detoxification is only the first step in the treatment process. Patients who go through medically assisted withdrawal but do not receive any further treatment show drug abuse patterns similar to those who were never treated.

Treatment

Medications can help reestablish normal brain functioning and prevent relapse by diminishing cravings an addict may have. Currently, doctors prescribe detox medications for opioid additions like heroin, morphine, tobacco (nicotine) and alcohol addiction, and are developing others for treating stimulant addictions to cocaine, methamphetamine and cannabis (marijuana) addictions. Most people with severe addiction problems use and abuse more than one drug and require treatment for multiple substance abuses.

Opioids

Methadone, buprenorphine and, for some individuals, naltrexone are effective medications for treating opiate addictions. Acting on the same targets in the brain as heroin and morphine, methadone and buprenorphine suppress withdrawal symptoms and relieve cravings. Naltrexone works by blocking the effects of heroin or other opioids at their receptor sites and doctors only prescribe these drugs for certain patients who underwent detoxification. Because of compliance issues, naltrexone is not as widely used as other medications. All medication helps patients disengage from seeking out drugs and other criminal behavior, and aid addicts in being more receptive to behavioral treatments.

Tobacco

Drug companies make many kinds of nicotine replacement therapies including the patch, a spray, gum and lozenges, which are available over the counter. In addition, the Federal Drug Administration approves two prescription medications for tobacco addiction: bupropion and varenicline. These drugs have different act on the brain differently, but both help to prevent relapse in people trying to quit smoking. Doctors recommend each medication for use in combination with behavioral treatments, including group and individual therapies, as well as telephone-quit lines.

Alcohol

The Federal Drug Administration approves three medications for treating alcohol dependence: naltrexone, acamprosate and disulfiram. A fourth drug called topiramate exhibits encouraging results in clinical trials. Naltrexone blocks opioid receptors that are involved in the rewarding effects of drinking and in the craving for alcohol. Naltrexone reduces relapsing to heavy drinking and is highly effective in some patients, likely due to genetic differences. Doctors believe that acamprosate reduces symptoms of protracted withdrawal, such as insomnia, anxiety, restlessness and dysphoria, which is an unpleasant or uncomfortable emotional state, similar to depression, anxiety or irritability. Acamprosate may be more effective in patients with severe dependence. Disulfiram interferes with the degradation of alcohol, resulting in the accumulation of acetaldehyde, which, in turn, produces a very unpleasant reaction that includes flushing, nausea and heart palpitations when a patient drinks alcohol. Compliance can be a problem, but among patients who are highly motivated, disulfiram can be very effective.