Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Cutting Treatment Costs More Than It Saves

from the Times Union

The Times Union's outstanding series, "Poppy's story: A face of addiction," coincides with a state fiscal crisis that will tempt lawmakers to enact across-the-board budget cuts to alcohol addiction treatment, prevention and recovery services.

They should reject this path, because in many instances broad-based cuts to these vital programs would actually cost the state money. Lawmakers must understand that dealing with the fallout from addiction is more costly than treating the problem.

Addiction to alcohol and other drugs is a chronic disease. Dealing with the consequences significantly drives up spending in areas such as health care, social service, criminal justice and child welfare. Unfortunately, New York historically has failed to treat addiction and instead has spent billions on its effects. During these times of economic distress, we must rethink our approach.

A study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that alcohol abuse and other drug problems drive 70 percent of spending on child welfare, 77 percent on criminal justice, 66 percent on juvenile justice, 25 percent on health, 51 percent on mental health and 9 percent of developmental disabilities expenditures in state agency budgets.

So it would be penny-wise and pound-foolish to cut funding on addiction services -- investments that could reduce the amount the state spends in these other areas.

This is especially true in juvenile justice. Adolescents addicted to alcohol and other drugs frequently wind up in state-run facilities that cost taxpayers between $150,000 and $200,000 a year for each teen -- often with very poor results. Most of these youths then land in our state prisons as adults. Adolescent chemical dependence treatment programs cost half as much and are far more successful at treating our children and returning them to school and their families.

The health care problems of severely addicted people like Poppy often consume huge amounts of Medicaid dollars as well. However, there are programs to manage these cases, and if done properly, significant savings occur.

The Managed Addiction Treatment Services program saves more than $18 million annually in New York City alone. Offering residential treatment as an alternative to incarceration saves at least $10,000 a year for every addicted person.

Instead of cutting services, Gov. David Paterson and the Legislature should expand these programs so they return bigger savings to New York's taxpayers.

Closing costly juvenile detention centers and investing in chemical and alcohol dependence treatment programs can save millions. Lawmakers should also consider imposing an additional tax on alcoholic beverages and dedicating the revenues to fund treatment services.

By treating the disease instead of the consequences, we can save the state significant amounts of money. That will mean fewer New Yorkers like Poppy struggling to survive on our streets -- which will help taxpayers and addicts alike.

John Coppola is executive director of the New York State Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers.