Both Palmiero and Finn said that insurance companies often require people to exhaust their outpatient options before they will cover treatment at a rehabilitation center. 

Industry-funded seminars for doctors focus on how it is unethical not to prescribe pain medications for patients experiencing pain, according to Palmiero. Most insurance companies claim that opioid addiction is rare in patients, and that use of opioid-based medications is relatively easy to discontinue. Most addicts, however, would describe withdrawal symptoms as “the worst flu you’ve ever had times 100,” said Palmiero, which Casey later confirmed.

A recurring theme of the seminar was that addiction is a disease, and should be treated as such. “If a person goes to the E.R. with chest pain, you wouldn’t turn them away for outpatient heart treatment,” Palmiero said. “We must swing the pendulum the other way, and demand that treatment money be put toward addiction.”

 Addiction warning signs 

• Runny nose

• Sudden weight loss

• Loss of appetite

• Impaired coordination

• Slurred speech

• Deterioration of physical appearance/grooming habits

• Watery eyes

• Wearing winter clothes in the summer (usually to hide needle marks)

• Grayish skin tone

• Burns on hands or fingers

• Flu-like symptoms

• Sleeping at unusual times

• Change in friend group

• Less interaction with family

• Frequent trips to the pharmacy

• Lack of motivation/interest

• Skipping class/declining grades

• Finding empty pill capsules 

• Finding syringes 

• Finding rolled-up dollar bills

• Bent/burned spoons

• Missing money/jewelry

Source: Phoenix House