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“They’re going to be engaging in a lot of tactics to essentially repel people from enrolling in their plans if they think they have high-cost conditions like substance use disorders,” Saloner said. “I anticipate there’s going to be a lot more discrimination and a lot more potential for people with substance use disorders to fall through the cracks.”
Cuts to Obamacare could result in more people with addiction problems going untreated, Saloner warned, creating “a lot of downstream negative public health consequences” that end up costing U.S. taxpayers more in the long run.
“When someone has a substance use problem and they’re not getting help, what you see is they’re often not holding a job, which means there’s less economic productivity,” Saloner said. “They’re at higher risk of getting in motor vehicle accident. They’re at a higher risk of going to jail or prison, which is a high cost to taxpayers.”
Image: By Unknown – President Donald J. Trump (from the White House) (direct link), CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55176146
Tags: access, bioethics, coverage, crisis, health policy, opioid, public health, social justice, treatment, trump, trumpcare
