What Are Opioids?
If you’ve been in an accident, had a fall, or suffer from a disease or other medical condition which causes either acute or chronic pain, you may have been subscribed an opioid. These medications help regulate the body’s ability to recognize and react to painful stimuli but reducing or blocking the brain’s ability to read the pain signals your body sends. While drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine are regularly prescribed by physicians for legitimate use in patients for whom pain is a constant concern, all too often these drugs can be misused or even abused.
Some people include heroin, which is technically an opiate (a natural derivative of the opium poppy, versus opioid, which is at least partly synthetic) in the opioid category as well. For the purposes of diagnosis and addiction treatment, your COBRA opioid detox coverage will likely do the same.
Correct Use vs. Abuse
The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that there are between 26.4 million and 36 million people worldwide currently struggling with opioid addiction. Around 2.1 million of those people are in the United States. While some of those users may have started off with legitimate prescriptions, at some point that approved use turned toxic.
- Correct Use – The only way to correctly use a prescription opiate is in the amount and frequency prescribed by a licensed physician. Using more of a pill or using the pill more often than intended can be categorized as abuse.
- Dependency – Opioid dependency can occur even when the patient is taking the prescription exactly as prescribed. Over time, your body gets used to the medication and requires more of it in order to achieve the same level of efficacy – and in some cases, the same “high,” although that feeling of euphoria is a side effect of the prescription, not the goal.
- Addiction – Addiction occurs when the patient or user cannot stop taking the opioid even when they try to, or when the opioid use begins to negatively impact their school, work, or personal life. If you’re struggling with opioid addiction, explore your COBRA opioid detox coverage now so you can get the support you need.
Treatment Under Your COBRA Opioid Detox Coverage
General opioid addiction treatment plans will include any or all of the following:
- Inpatient rehab
- Outpatient treatment
- Individual and/or family therapy
- Support Groups
- Transitional housing
Exactly how much financial assistance your insurance policy will provide depends on your individual COBRA opioid detox coverage, but no matter what the cost is, the reward – a healthier, happier life – is worth it.