Can Online Addiction Treatment Save You Money?

In today’s digital age information about online addiction treatment is everywhere. Generally, people talk about how and where to get treatment, what’s involved, how it works, etc. Yet, rarely do we see the financial aspects of online addiction treatment.

Since 1999, more than 932,000 Americans have died from a drug overdose. In 2020, nearly 75% of all drug overdose deaths involved an Opioid (such as Fentanyl or Oxycodone). The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) attributes the dramatic rise in deaths to the massive proliferation of prescription Opioid Painkillers in the 1990s and 2000s. 

As a result, prescription Opioids became easier to obtain, misuse, and become dependent on, and the increased supply led to a decrease in cost. As with other licit and illicit substances, the legal supply of a drug often affects street prices and the national rate of addiction. (source: https://www.addictioncenter.com)

Not Everyone Who Gets Addicted to Opioids has Health Insurance

In 2018, Tennessee was the 16th largest state with a population of 6,586,400. 35.5% of Tennessee residents had incomes below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), which was higher than the U.S. share (30.4%). 

Of the 6,586,400 Tennessee population, 666,116 adult residents did not have health insurance. That’s 12.1% of the adult population who are uninsured. These are the Self-Pay candidates for online addiction treatment. (source: https://www.kff.org/)

According to the White House 3.7% of Tennessee residents polled reported using an illicit drug other than marijuana in the past month.
(Source: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov)

It’s probably safe to say that not everyone who uses drugs was completely honest about their drug use due to fear of being caught, pushing that number upwards of 4%.

Where to Begin?

To determine whether or not someone can save money by leaving their drug habit behind and starting online addiction treatment you first have to look at the cost of being addicted.

To do this, you have to look at the average daily use of an opioid addict along with current street drug prices. Thankfully, there’s information available online that can give us some fairly accurate numbers to work with. That said, there are variances in these numbers depending on where you look.

We did our best to average street drug prices and average daily drug use based on internet research and patient feedback gathered over the years. Please keep in mind, this article is for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered factual in any way.

Two Types of Daily Narcotic (Opioid) Drug Users

There are generally only types of narcotic (opioid) drug users:

• Heroin Users
• Pain Pill Users

There are slight differences between the two drug user types such as purchase frequency, amount purchased on average, and of course the cost of the drugs they buy.

Daily Drug Usage for Heroin and Pain Pill Users

Below is the each drug user type’s estimated daily usage:

• Heroin Users – The average daily habit is 1.5 grams.
• Pain Pill Users – The average daily habit is 100 milligrams

Street Prices for Heroin and Oxycodone/OxyContin

• Heroin – The average cost per gram is $90
• Pain Pill Users – The average cost per milligram is $1.30

Daily Drug Habit Costs

• Heroin Users – $135 per day. (Average cost per gram is $90 x 1.5 grams per day)
• Pain Pill Users – $130 per day. (Average cost per milligram is $13  x 100 milligrams per day)

Monthly Drug Habit Costs

Looking at monthly drug habit costs is where the numbers really start to add up. It makes you wonder where street drug users find the money to support their drug habit, doesn’t it? 

• Heroin Users – $4050 per month.
• Pain Pill Users – $3900 per month.

The Cost of Insurance-Based Online Addiction Treatment

For many Tennesseans the cost for online drug treatment is $0 because they have TennCare health insurance. TennCare covers 100% of their treatment and medication costs making this a no-brainer if money is a concern for getting clean.

Patients with commercial insurance will often be required to pay a copay for their visit costs which can range from $20 to $60 on average. Suboxone medications may also have a copay of roughly $10-$15, since money-saving generics are now available that perform every bit as good as the original Suboxone sublingual films. 

What About Self-Pay Costs for Online Addiction Treatment?

Nashville Addiction Clinic provides self-pay patients two options:

• Pay $370 per month
• Or, pay $210 every two weeks as part of a payment plan

Medications without health insurance can get expensive. However, as mentioned above, there are now money-saving generics that perform just as well as the original Suboxcone sublingual films. They come in film or tablet form and cost roughly 1/4th the cost of Suboxone films.

GoodRX Makes Generic Suboxone Even Cheaper

GoodRX.com is basically a coupon store for prescription drugs that costs absolutely nothing to use. Generic Suboxone films and tablets can be purchased using the GoodRX Discount Card, saving people hundreds of dollars on generic Suboxone medications.

The average cost per month for 56 generic Suboxone tablets using the free GoodRX Discount Card is $86.36. Keep in mind, generic Suboxone tablet and film costs can vary by $20 to $60 based on availability. And, prices ranged from store-to-store from $69.34 to $147.11 as of this writing.

Just How Much Can a Street Opioid User Save by Starting Online Addiction Treatment?

Knowing that TennCare insured patients will pay $0 every month, and commercially-insured patients will pay less than $300 (for treatment and medications per month) it’s really only fair to compare the cost of online addiction treatment for those without health insurance – the self-pay patients who pay $370 per month for telemedicine Suboxone treatment and roughly $100 for medications.

Self-Pay Monthly Treatment Costs = $450

Compare this to what each drug user type spends and it becomes obvious that online addiction treatment is without a doubt a great way to save thousands of dollars per month, Not to mention, provides a much healthier, happier lifestyle for individuals and families.

• Heroin Users could save $3520 per month.
• Pain Pill Users could save $3380 per month.

Clearly, money can be a motivator for starting online addiction treatment. But, more importantly is the quality of life gained for yourself and your family. Nothing disrupts a family more than having an active addict and/or alcoholic in the home.

Ready to put an end to your opioid drug habit AND save over $3000 per month? We can help! Choose a button below to register and you can get seen on the same-day most weekdays. (during normal business hours)