
According to a 2013 report to Congress from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the "growing workforce crisis in the addictions field" is due to a variety of factors, including stigma, an aging workforce and inadequate compensation.
The US spent $24 billion on treatment of drug and alcohol disorders in 2009, the most recent year for which comprehensive data are available, according to a new study by the Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew also funds Stateline). Sixty-nine percent of the spending came from public sources such as state and local governments, Medicaid, Medicare and federal grants. Private sources, including commercial insurance and out-of-pocket spending, made up the balance, according to the report.
Historically, reimbursement rates and consequently salaries for physicians, psychologists, social workers and counselors in the addiction field have been well below salaries for comparable professionals in other health care specialties that require the same level of education and training.
For example, the average salary for social workers in the addiction field is $38,600, compared to $47,230 in the rest of the health care industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
More Articles
- Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to Grads: Love Is the World’s Oldest Medicine
- Stateline, Biden Likely to Help States Increase Health Care Access: December 15, 2020, Last Day to Enroll In or Change Plans for 2021 Coverage and GAO Reports on Breast and Cervical Cancer.
- Kaiser Health Foundation: Distributing a COVID-19 Vaccine Across the U.S. - A Look at Key Issues
- Supreme Court Surprises The Public in LGBTQ Ruling: What is Sex Discrimination?
- Kaiser Family Foundation: Eligibility for ACA Health Coverage Following Job Loss; What Is ESI?
- US Department of Justice: Leading Cancer Treatment Center Admits to Antitrust Crime and Agrees to Pay $100 Million Criminal Penalty
- Automatic Stabilizers: What Are They and Do They Help Workers Who Stay Home Due to the Corona Virus?
- Weekly Legislative Update, Nov. 11 - 15th: MOMS Act, Health Quality Improvement Act, Human Trafficking, Improving Corporate Governance through Diversity Act of 2019, Family Violence Prevention
- States Flubbed the Rollout of Their Health Insurance Exchanges. Now They’re Ready to Try Again
- Introducing an Opioid Painkiller into a Home Can Double the Chances Someone Else Seeks Out the Addictive Drugs