Lead Story:

Adolescent Residential Addiction Treatment In The US: Uneven Access, Waitlists, And High Costs

Health Affairs

Residential treatment facilities are one treatment option for adolescents with substance use disorders, yet little is known about their accessibility or cost. This study identified 160 residential addiction treatment facilities that treated adolescents with opioid use disorder as of December 2022. Eighty-seven facilities (54.4 percent) had a bed immediately available. Among sites with a waitlist, the mean wait time for a bed was 28.4 days. Of facilities providing cost information, the mean cost of treatment per day was $878. Daily costs among for-profit facilities were triple those of nonprofit facilities. Half of facilities required up-front payment by self-pay patients. The mean up-front cost was $28,731. The authors were unable to identify any facilities for adolescents in ten states or Washington, D.C. Access to adolescent residential addiction treatment centers in the United States is limited and costly.

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