CIGNA To Reimburse For Advanced Outpatient Treatment For Opioid Dependence

Approximately 4.4 million Americans are currently using prescription pain relievers for non medical purposes, and another 2.4 million have used heroin at some time in their lives.

CIGNA Behavioral Health announced today that it is the only national behavioral health organization to provide coverage for office-based induction with buprenorphine, an advanced type of opiate treatment which can be prescribed and monitored on an outpatient basis with the medication taken in the privacy of a member's own home.

-- In 2001 alone, almost 2.5 million people used pain relievers without a medical need for the first time. This is a dramatic 335 percent increase from 573,000 new users in 1990.

-- The stigma of opioid dependence can be so overwhelming that thousands of patients every year choose to continue using drugs rather than risk possible exposure by receiving treatment for their addiction. As a result, at least 1.2 million opioid-dependent patients in the US are believed to be untreated at present.

The Drug Abuse Treatment Act of 2000 provided a way for physicians to integrate treatment of opiate dependence into general outpatient medicine through the use of the drug Buprenorphine.

"Many people we work with are abusing substances because of a pain killer they took for instance because of a surgery. By becoming the first national behavioral health organization to cover the induction of buprenorphine, we've removed some of the barriers to treatment," said Dr. Doug Nemecek, National Medical Director of CIGNA Behavioral Health. "Until recently, only clinic- based Methadone treatment has been available which had a stigma attached to it. Now, a doctor can prescribe Buprenorphine, which removes one of the major barriers to treatment because a patient can be seen in a traditional doctor's office."

CIGNA Behavioral Health partners with CIGNA Pharmacy Management to identify members who may be abusing painkillers and together they work with the physician to help the member get into much needed treatment. CIGNA offers a variety of options to assist members -- from referrals to counseling through CIGNA Behavioral Health or CIGNA HealthCare case management, to admission into opiate management and treatment programs.