In a recent installment of NBC’s series on “America’s Heroin Epidemic,” a mother of two adult sons in Missouri discloses that while her younger son is able to receive the Suboxone that is helping him stay clean, her older son has aged out of his parents’ health insurance and is trying to overcome his addiction with more limited resources. The story hypothesizes that one of the benefits of the Affordable Care Act might be helping addicts gain access to effective treatment like Suboxone. Here’s a brief excerpt from this story, and you can hear a similarly compelling story of an Ohio mom who turned to Suboxone to kick her heroin habit by clicking HERE.
At 24, Ben is still covered by his father’s insurance plan. So as soon as Denise saw Ben using heroin again, she enrolled him in a treatment program covered by that health plan, which provides Ben with Suboxone — a stabilizing medicine similar to methadone that allows recovering addicts to function normally without feeling high.
“I take it three times a day. Once in the morning, once in the afternoon and then once at night,” Ben said. “There’s no withdrawal symptoms. I don’t have urges. I don’t have cravings. I don’t ever think about it anymore.”
Ben has been clean for two months.