Methadone: A Flicker Of Light In The Dark
Methadone: A Flicker Of Light In The Dark
Methadone: A Flicker Of Light In The Dark
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Methadone: A Flicker Of Light In The Dark

To provide a better understanding of the very important role methadone plays in the treatment of addiction.
 
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 What are your clinic fees like?

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chemenglala
boogy.pc
floydfx05
Happylady5
kymmt2010
jeffsgirl
Krati
dara
lilgirllost
13 posters
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lilgirllost
Admin
lilgirllost


Female
Number of posts : 863
Age : 51
Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx
Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids
Humor : I don't have a sense of humor.............
Registration date : 2009-05-25

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyTue Sep 08, 2009 10:03 am

What are your clinic fees like? Female10




I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday yesterday, but alas, it is time for us all to get back to our daily schedules for school, work and yes, those clinic visits!

It would be so nice if we could go to a regular doctor to get our methadone like they have for suboxone treatment! I know for a fact the actual methadone medication is cheap, cheap, cheap so it really blows my mind that we are charged like we are for MMT from clinics. There is no regulations on that either.
They regulate everything else like crazy but not this??

I know methadone is cheap medication because when I first found out about methadone it was from a doctor who had mercy on me in an ER (he was an internal medicine doc) who gave me methadone when I went to the ER at the end of my ropes from being addicted to pain killers and didn't know where else to go or what to do. (no one had ever tried methadone with me before and regular rehabs were NOT working).

He put me on 10mg 3 times a day. Even though he was not suppose to be doing it for detox, he had pity on me and prescribed it for me and took me on as a patient. I went to the pharmacy and it only cost me TWELVE DOLLARS for a MONTH'S WORTH of methadone. TWELVE DOLLARS! Now, not every pharmacy carried it, so I had to travel a little ways to find one that did and granted I am on a higher dose now, but come on! The point is, that methadone is cheap medication.

This doctor was trying to wean me off and even though I saw him for 3 mths, I could never get down past 10mg twice a day. He obviously couldn't keep me on it forever since he was taking a risk treating me as it was, that is when I researched and found methadone clinics.

I know from my personal experience when I first started it was $50 a week and that included everything. UA's, doc visits, bloodwork, physicals, counseling (yeah right, if you ever got it!) and anything else. That was more than I was paying, but that seemed reasonable and was well worth the cost.

Within a year and a half's time, the same clinic went up to $65 then 1 yr later $70 in addition then we had to start paying an additional $75 for our yearly physicals.

Then the next year, it was an xtra $10 that first week for the ua's, then $70 a week for the rest of the month. In addition to that though, the state fees were to be paid 2 yrs in advance! Didn't matter if you may not be in treatment the following year, they required you to pay them 2 yrs in advance with no refund if you weren't there the following year.

At the current time I pay $90 the first week, $80 the rest of the weeks, you pay $80 in addition to the fees when it's time for your physical and any other tests or blood work comes out of your pocket in addition to the two year state fees in advance. It is crazy and I am finding that my clinic is one of the cheaper clinics!

I don't see how they can justify the expense, but what are we going to do??? NOTHING! You guys have heard me say this before, but they make me feel like they are nothing but a legal drug dealer. They get us dependant on what they have, that no one else has and they can go up on their prices any time they want, they can give you more medication for you money or less medication for your money based on what feels like "their" needs and desires, not the pts and what are you going to do??? NOTHING.

We need what they have and it's not like we can go to the neighborhood corner store and get it. Most of us already are having long commutes to the clinics on a daily, several times weekly, once a week (whatever you level is) schedule so the cost of gas and wear and tear is another factor. It is crazy.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful because methadone saved my life, but it is still a sad fact of private run MMT clinics all over the US and NO ONE regulates that.

I would love to hear you guys experiences with the fees that you have to deal with at your clinics so share with us.

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lilgirllost
Admin
lilgirllost


Female
Number of posts : 863
Age : 51
Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx
Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids
Humor : I don't have a sense of humor.............
Registration date : 2009-05-25

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: give me some feedback guys!   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyThu Sep 10, 2009 11:35 pm

Come on you guys! I see some of you actually did read what I had to say so lets hear about your experiences with this! We have got to start practicing speaking out about things that deal with our MMT. How are we ever going to speak out about the big things if we can't even speak about the smaller ones.

I know the majority of us have to pay quite a bit of money to go to the MMT clinic so let's hear about it............
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dara




Female
Number of posts : 7
Location : midwest
Registration date : 2009-08-27

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyMon Sep 14, 2009 5:58 am

Hi
I pay 50$ weekly to the clinic I attend.The induction fee was only 50$.
Frankly,I think this is a bargain.Especially when I think of what I paid to get drugs.
Also the economy is a factor.
There is rent to be paid for the facility.The counselors nurses and other staff need to be paid,supplies ua's and other tests etc.If my fee went up several dollars I would still consider it a bargain compared to the cost of suboxone and the suboxone doctors visits.
If one makes cost comparisons to general health care mmt is still dirt cheap.There are no free lunches in life so why would I expect someone to hand me free treatment or drugs????
I for one have no complaints,in fact am grateful the costs are so minimal.
If one is having problems paying I know some clinics have govt subsidized slots.
I guess this issue would be on a clinic to clinic basis,as it seems different clinics have different costs and policies.
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Krati




Female
Number of posts : 2
Location : Milton WV
Registration date : 2009-09-04

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyMon Sep 14, 2009 9:07 am

CRAP!!!
I would love to pay 80/wk
It's 96 for methadone and 133 for suboxone
...which i just switched back to suboxone
...personal reasons
but ya know?
I have been a patient at the Hungtington AND Charleston WV Clinics
Each one is like herding cattle. . .
Charleston the one I'm at now, just implemented a new deal where they only
let you come in at a certain 2 hour block.
I was pissed at first. . . why?
because as addicts. .. do not be offended other addicts
but as the addicts that we are, we don't do the same thing everyday
we like CHANGE. . .
but. . alas. . . it seems to be herding the cattle quite well
so i'm going to keep my mouth shut for now
no more feending methadone heads starting a line down the road at 3am
when the clinic doesn't even open until 5:45
just so they can get in and spit it out unto their pop can and shoot it in the parking lot
anyways. . here nor there. .
do what ya want. . .
its just some people have an actual. . . JOB?
and these people come in all doped up out of their heads just wanted a morning fix
. .. the clinic workers don't understand. . they say this all the time
"the methadone is not going to run out"
and i'm like. thats NOT what they're thinking
anyways, back to the money issue
the charlestonand huntington clinic BOTH do not have methadone, they have the generic. . methadose.
which is even flipping cheaper
now i know how much those little LPNs make htere
not a whole lot - and there's only 5 of them for the thousands and thousands that come in a day
and the counselors?? well, i can't say how much they make. . but since i've been there i only know of one who has left. .. . "can't handle the pressure" hee hee
but i have heard that in NY and other places that the clinics are free
jails and prisons are one of the biggest profiters of our state
so why would the government pay to put them into rehab or a clinic where addicts can actually get help and not get in trouble again and again
... b/c that would take away their cut of those damg jail/prison profits
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lilgirllost
Admin
lilgirllost


Female
Number of posts : 863
Age : 51
Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx
Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids
Humor : I don't have a sense of humor.............
Registration date : 2009-05-25

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyMon Sep 14, 2009 11:15 am

thanks so much for those of you that have shared. I knew we would all have different experiences and such and I like to hear from you guys to know what those are.

Krati - there is medication assitance to be had for suboxone therapy so that the medication is free. I don't know how your suboxone clinic works, are you going to a family practice doc to get your meds or is it from a methadone like clinic? The makers of suboxone do offer the meds for free but it requires the doc to fill out paperwork every 3 mths and then the meds are sent to the doctors office/clinic. ALSO, we do have a suboxone forum if you would like to check it out. The moderator there is Dee and she is a great lady who will do whatever she can to help you out. She can also give you more info about the medication assitance for suboxone. Since I have no experience w/suboxone personally, I don't know a lot about it. Not that I want you to leave us here at the methadone forum but I know there are different situations and needs for suboxone patients and/or you may want to be an active member of both. The link for the suboxone FORUM is http://suboxone.activebb.net/forum.htm The link for our suboxone WEBSITE is www.suboxoneassistedtreatment.org so be sure and check those out. There is also a link about the medication assistance program on our suboxone website at http://www.suboxoneassistedtreatment.org/84.html

Dara - I agree with what you are saying too and understand where you are coming from on that, but on the same token, it should be more affordable when the actual medicine is so cheap. I know that they have overhead costs for the doc, counselors, staff and other things but with as many patients as some of the clinic have that charge $70-$100 a week, you would think that cost would be more than covered with a fee that is more reasonable and doesn't cost as much or more than your rent.

I also know that some people will say, well I spent more than that to get my pills/drugs, and that may be true for some or even most, but it should still be easier on the pocketbook when you are trying to be a stable member of society and beat your addiction. It's hard enough to stay on the program as it is without having the added burden of worrying about paying for it. I am not even saying "free" treatment, but more affordable would be nice.

Having said all that, Your clinic IS very reasonable on their price though so I can see where you have no complaint there about yours.

Again, Thanks you guys for responding and I hope to hear from you guys again!
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Krati




Female
Number of posts : 2
Location : Milton WV
Registration date : 2009-09-04

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyMon Sep 14, 2009 11:37 am

Thank you for your input. . .but I have a lot of experience with methadone AND suboxone. . . I think I could be of use in both forums. Plus my husband is still at the methadone clinic.

About 3 years ago I started at Huntington methaodne clinic and got a referral to suboxone DR. . whom took me down so quickly I started on drugs worse than what I was before.

When the DR thought I should be OFF the drugs he kicked me out and 2 weeks later I was at the Charleston clinic. I've been there since May of this year. The Charleston clinic offers suboxone AND methadone.
Since I don't have insurance anymore (lost my job when I was kicked out of the suboxone dr and was in terrible withdrawals when I couldn't find anything)
It would be more expensive for me to go to a DR. At the Charleston clinic suboxone is $19 /day. Getting suboxone from a dr plus the fees from the pharmacy with no insurance is mroe expensive.

You say you can get the drug for free? I dont' think this is a national offer. Here in WV I seriously doubt you could get that. The cheapest I have found it is $7/8mg pill from the pharmacy. It's $10/8mg pill at Wal mart and Kroger.
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lilgirllost
Admin
lilgirllost


Female
Number of posts : 863
Age : 51
Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx
Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids
Humor : I don't have a sense of humor.............
Registration date : 2009-05-25

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyMon Sep 14, 2009 12:23 pm

Yes, it IS free all over the US. It comes directly from the company RECKITT BENCKISER
who are the makers of suboxone. So if you go to a doctors office for the visit and then usually have to go to the pharmacy to get your suboxone script filled, then it would benefit you because then the medication can be free. The problem is that the doctor has to fill out paperwork like every three months so you can qualify to get it free (and some don't want to be bothered with it). Instead of picking the meds up at the pharmacy like you usually do, they will ship the meds directly to your doctor. So in essence it is like when you go to your doc and he gives you free samples.....It is offered in every state and I believe in other countries besides the US, as long as it's a country where they allow the use of suboxone.

The link so you can get the info on this is http://www.suboxoneassistedtreatment.org/84.html
It goes over all the rules and guidelines of the program and tells you what to do to apply for the assistance.

You said you have been on both medications before, out of suboxone and methadone, which do you prefer? What reasons do you prefer it? I ask because I was wondering about switching to suboxone from methadone but I would hate to switch only to have the methadone work better for me so I would really like to hear about your experience with the two medications.

I bet with both you and your husband in treatment it absolutely gets expensive. I couldn't imagine having to pay for both of us to be in treatment. ALSO, can I ask you another question and if you don't want to answer it's ok because I am getting a little nosy......Do you find it harder to stay clean since you both are in recovery struggling to stay clean? My husband has never been addicted to anything in his whole life so in some ways, this is good but in other ways I think it would be helpful if he had some personal experience w/addiction because even though he is very supportive and tries to understand, he really can't totally understand because he has never been there. So I was curious about that as well. Like I said, I know I am getting a little too personal and nosy so if you don't want to answer, it won't hurt my feelings at all.

have a good one!
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What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyMon Nov 09, 2009 4:29 am

hey RuthAnn!
i think my clinics fees are very reasonable for Georgia. i transferred to my clinic (GPA) from the 1st clinic i was at. i was not charged a transfer fee which many clinics charge. our counseling, medication, doctor appointments, yearly checkup, bloodwork, monthly u/a's (unless you come up dirty & then you are charged $10 for another u/a) are all included w/ the fees. it's $12/day for diskette or $11/day for liquid & if you are a monthly (28 days) patient then it's $280/28 days. if you need a peak or trough test that cost more of course. for all that we get for our money its a bargain compared to alot of clinics which charge per service.
Cat
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jeffsgirl




Female
Number of posts : 11
Location : Tennessee
Registration date : 2010-02-03

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyMon Feb 15, 2010 3:19 pm

myn clinic is 104 per week when I first started there it was 98 a week and if you are married and both of you attend it is 86 a week I think....that is alittle on the expensive side I think
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kymmt2010




Male
Number of posts : 1
Location : Kentucky
Registration date : 2010-10-08

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Clinic $$   What are your clinic fees like? EmptySun Oct 24, 2010 2:33 pm

I attend a clinic in Lexington, KY and it cost $90.00 per wk. It did cost $100 to get the initial consultation and U.A. and another $100 which covered the first wk.

When I think about the amount of money I used to spend on pills verses the amount of money I spend on MMT it is a no brainer that these programs even if they are as much as $100 per week are a blessing. The $90 bucks per week I spend plus gas and time to get there doesn't begin to compare with what I would spend over the course of a week (if I even had it to spend), or the price of the pain and suffering of addiction without treatment. And suboxone isn't cheap either, lucky for me when I took suboxone I had insurance at the time to pay for my meds but with the cash only doc I went to I still spent more money each month than I do now so I'm happy with LPA where I attend MMT
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Happylady5

Happylady5


Female
Number of posts : 93
Age : 39
Location : MN
Humor : It's a great day to be alive!
Registration date : 2010-06-06

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptySun Oct 24, 2010 8:46 pm

12$ a day...unless you have insurance, than it is free.
If you give a 24 hr notice to a certain cab company, you will get voucher to go back and forth for free, ride on the insurance company. : ) So far everything else the mouth swabs, yearly physical was free. I love you
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floydfx05

floydfx05


Female
Number of posts : 71
Age : 65
Location : LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA
Humor : PEACE
Registration date : 2010-04-29

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyThu Oct 28, 2010 12:29 am

hi all,
I have medical, so my methadone is free, thank god for that. when I was in denver it was 40.00 to start and 40.00 a week, not to bad.
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boogy.pc




Male
Number of posts : 7
Age : 56
Location : florida
Job/hobbies : regional sales manager,love hunting an fishing an spending time with 3yr old grandson.
Registration date : 2011-04-13

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptySat Apr 16, 2011 6:42 pm

tHE CLINIC I GO TO HERE IN FLORIDA CHARGES 12 A DAY OR 80 A WK OR 300 A MONTH .tHEY USE TO BE SLACK ON THE ONES THAT WERE OUT OF WK,BUT AS USAULFEW BAD APPLES RUINED THAT FOR EVERYONE.iF YOU DONT HAVE MONEY NOW THEY START DETOX TILL YOU BRING MONEY.iHAVE PRETTY GOOD REPORE AN HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH THE CLINIC.tHEY DO HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THERE LABS AN THEY DO MAKE MISTAKES QUITE OFTEN WHICH ISNT GOOD FOR US THAT HAVE WEEKLY CARRY OUTS. bUT OTHER THAN THAT I HAVE TO SAY THAT BEING A PRIVATE RAN FACILITY IT IS OK .BESIDES THE LONG DRIVE.
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chemenglala




Female
Number of posts : 7
Location : Toronto, Ontario
Registration date : 2011-03-21

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyTue Apr 19, 2011 5:05 pm

My husband and I are in toronto, ontario, so our treatment (doctor's visits, blood work, U.A.s, appointments with the case workers) are covered by provincial health care. Our methadone is covered by our private health insurance and mine is $2.50 a day, his is free. He did just get a bill that his insurance company did not reimburse for some lab costs, but it turns out they had the wrong information to send, and not that it wasn't covered, so we paid it and then submitted for a refund.

i really don't know what we would do if we were both in the U.S. and having to pay for it out of pocket. with both of us on the program it would be a huge burden and i really respect all of you that are managing it!
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lilgirllost
Admin
lilgirllost


Female
Number of posts : 863
Age : 51
Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx
Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids
Humor : I don't have a sense of humor.............
Registration date : 2009-05-25

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyTue Apr 19, 2011 7:34 pm

TY for sharing with us. It's always informative to hear what is going on with methadone treatment in other coutries. Do you and your husband go to a methadone clinic or do you go to the pharmacy for your meds?
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chemenglala




Female
Number of posts : 7
Location : Toronto, Ontario
Registration date : 2011-03-21

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyWed Apr 20, 2011 2:12 pm

We go to a clinic and they fax the scripts to our neighbourhood pharmacy after we see the doctor so we don't have to go back to the clinic except for our mid-week urine screening . we have urine tests twice a week (once on the day we see the doctor, and then a second day of the week that we have to show up for before they release the second half of our prescription for the week). we did a lot of research and found the lowest price pharmacy and one that is small, family run so they know us by name and pay very close attention to our other scripts and how we're feeling.
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lilgirllost
Admin
lilgirllost


Female
Number of posts : 863
Age : 51
Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx
Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids
Humor : I don't have a sense of humor.............
Registration date : 2009-05-25

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyWed Apr 20, 2011 2:45 pm

oh wow. You guys have drug screens twice a week? At the clinic I go to (and I think most clinics in the US are this way) we get a UA once a month. Unless you are having trouble or they think there is reason to believe you have been using or something, then they will do them more frequently. Even if you have to come to the clinic every single day or are only allowed a few take outs a week they will still only do a UA once a month.

I bet if they did them more frequently here, it would cut down on the ppl misusing the program. They would be less likely to use other drugs/meds because they are getting tested more often than just once a month.

But on the same token, I get 27 takeouts a month (I go to the clinic once a month and they give us our medication at the clinic, we don't have to go get it from a pharmacy)I would hate to have to drive all the way back to the clinic just for the other drug screens. I drive 1 1/2 hrs one way and that is really not something I want to have to do more than I have to.


That is good you have a pharmacy that seems to really be concerned with your treatment. I have heard a lot of horror stories from other pts in Canada about the way they get treated at the pharmacy by the staff and other customers. I've also seen a lot of newspaper articles and comments where they are just giving the methadone patient such a hard time and have a horrible opinion about the methadone pt.

Are you allowed take home medication or do you have to go every single day to the pharmacy for your dose?
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chemenglala




Female
Number of posts : 7
Location : Toronto, Ontario
Registration date : 2011-03-21

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyWed Apr 20, 2011 5:19 pm

We are just starting to get take homes. we are both on split dosing so we go in for our morning dose and get the evening one as a carry. we can chose any pharmacy we want as long as it's open 7 days a week, so for patients who come from farther, there is a pharmacy next door to the clinic where they can get their dose, which makes it like being dosed at the clinic. we can get up to a week of take homes, i think, unless there is some special circumstances, but in order to get your take homes you have to sample twice a week. if you don't want carries then you can sample once a week, but no one really does that. i think after a certain amount of time, you get one week of carries and get the second UA waived, so you're only at the clinic once a week. i'm not sure if the UA frequency ever goes below that.

This is our second clinic, and at the first one the policies were the same. twice weekly UAs for the first few months, then to weekly, building up carries one day at a time as long as you have clean samples.

to me anything less than weekly for UAs doesn't make sense. it takes 3-4 days for cocaine to leave your system so they wouldn't catch any illicit drug use, which would make me feel like i wasn't getting the rewards for working as hard as i am to stay clean, when others could fake it.

we also see the doctor once a week, and if you're above 120 mg, you see two doctors a week to make sure there's a second opinion and specifically for pain management if there's a pain issue.
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lilgirllost
Admin
lilgirllost


Female
Number of posts : 863
Age : 51
Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx
Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids
Humor : I don't have a sense of humor.............
Registration date : 2009-05-25

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyWed Apr 20, 2011 6:29 pm

chemenglala wrote:
to me anything less than weekly for UAs doesn't make sense. it takes 3-4 days for cocaine to leave your system so they wouldn't catch any illicit drug use, which would make me feel like i wasn't getting the rewards for working as hard as i am to stay clean, when others could fake it.

YES! This is exactly what I was getting at. If you aren't tested but once a month or less than once a week, you can use and they would never know. Even though they are randomly suppose to test us, if you only come in once a month, twice a month or what ever, you get an idea of when it is time for a UA again.

I know I am going to make some ppl angry saying this, but I think there is too much room for error there. Now, maybe in time after you get level increases for clinic compliance/clean UA's and such, you could go to less UA's but I think for the first 6-12 months at least you should have at a minimum weekly drug testing.

But that is just my opinion and again, it's easy for me to say such things when I don't have to go that often to the clinic any more.
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chemenglala




Female
Number of posts : 7
Location : Toronto, Ontario
Registration date : 2011-03-21

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyThu Apr 21, 2011 12:53 pm

I find it amazing that my clinic is always so astounded that my husband and i are clean...we are two of a very small group at the clinic. they are so impressed with us that they're accelerating our carries (we're supposed to be picking up once a week almost immediately after we find our stable dose). to me, if i was going to go through the long struggle of going on methadone to handle my addiction to pain pills, i was not going to just let myself become an even more heavy user of my other drugs of choice. it was a decision to get clean, and i'm constantly amazed at the people making drug deals on the phone in the waiting room or outside the clinic, openly selling their carries or responding yes when the nurses ask about alcohol consumption before a U.A. i guess it's just our point of view though, and everyone has their own path.

being on MMT has been difficult emotionally and physically, and if i hadn't wanted to get totally clean, i would have just kept using and not have gone through this.
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lilgirllost
Admin
lilgirllost


Female
Number of posts : 863
Age : 51
Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx
Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids
Humor : I don't have a sense of humor.............
Registration date : 2009-05-25

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyThu Apr 21, 2011 5:36 pm

Wow, Things are so different here. Don't get me wrong, I know there are ppl abusing the program even here, but they don't do it openly. Course at my clinic they have cameras in the waiting room and outside and we are not allowed to hang around after we are finished dosing, not even in the parking lot. I would put it at about 30-45 percent that are prob abusing the program at my clinic, course I have no real evidence of that, but from what I can tell, that is prob a good estimate.

You are right, it is too much trouble and effort and for us here in the US, the expense to do it and not be serious. Of course, alot of the 30-45% I'm estimating are the ones who are using the methadone just to "tide them over' in times of having to go without till they can get their fix. They keep their dose low enough that they can still get high from other stuff and they just use the methadone to keep the withdrawals at bay till they can get what they really want.
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chemenglala




Female
Number of posts : 7
Location : Toronto, Ontario
Registration date : 2011-03-21

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyFri Apr 22, 2011 3:18 pm

it's probably much different here because it's free. without any benefits the maximum cost of methadone is $10 a day, but most people have some kind of benefits. there's also no waiting list...we got our intake interview the day we called about switching to the clinic. the day i mat with my case manager, she gave me some readings on increase in cocaine usage in methadone patients and when i told her we weren't using anything she was amazed. so people here definitely use it to get off opiates so they can have money to use other things!

we just got asked if we would be interested in switching to suboxone, which opens up a whole new issue for my husband and i!
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kd200304




Female
Number of posts : 10
Location : us
Registration date : 2011-06-06

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyFri Jun 10, 2011 3:04 am

VBMC in virginia beach VA. 13 a day plus 20 a month for benzo ua test if u take benzos. $25 doc fee. $65 yrly fee. $35 if you want your urine retested cuz it came up dirty. $210 start up fees. $9 a day once you are on OBT
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kd200304




Female
Number of posts : 10
Location : us
Registration date : 2011-06-06

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyFri Sep 02, 2011 12:30 am

91 a week or $12 a day for methadone. if you hit OBT status and have 28 days worth of take homes, including doc visit, counselor visit , and medication, its 9 a day. if your are on zanax or any prescription drugs, u must pay an extra $20 for a test to see how much of the other medication is in your system and they r very strict on callbacks. no complaints. very strict but very real people her.e do what u gotta do. they help u. keep ur shit up? like anywhere else. have fun. no one wants your bullshit. i would recoment VA clinics in a heartbeat. iu have also been in OH and MI clinics where fee is $80 a week, bullshit on take homes, nothing but a headace but they do take medicaid and insurance. VA ckinic is strictly private pay but is well worth it. thanks to my staff at VA for almost 3 years clean
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lilgirllost
Admin
lilgirllost


Female
Number of posts : 863
Age : 51
Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx
Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids
Humor : I don't have a sense of humor.............
Registration date : 2009-05-25

What are your clinic fees like? Empty
PostSubject: Re: What are your clinic fees like?   What are your clinic fees like? EmptyFri Sep 02, 2011 9:47 pm

So it sounds like they give you a discount if you are on a higher "level" of care. That would be awesome if they did that at my clinic! I would love to find somewhere near me where I could get OBT but that is nowhere to be found anywhere within driving distance of where I live.



What I have a hard time with too, I know this is a bit off topic, but kd200304 you are getting such good care at VA clinics, yet the military doesn't support Opiate Replacement Therapy for active duty or current employees. That doesn't make much sense to me!



I know clinics have overhead and expenses as well, but I have been to clinics where I felt like they were just there for the money. They charged for EVERYTHING. The regular "dosing" fee, then once a month they charged an xtra $20 for the UA, they charged $100 when it was time for your physical, once a year they started charging a "state fee" of $75 but then for whatever reason they decided you had to pay them 2 yrs in advance so we were charged $150 ever other year (my question was what about the ones who weren't there after they paid the other year? either moved or detoxed or kicked out....whatever) I was told there are NO refunds.



At this same clinic, I would go ahead and pay a year in advance each Feb when we got our tax refund. Then one year they made me sign a paper saying that if for whatever reason, if I wasn't there for the time I had already paid for, there would be NO refunds! After that, I quit paying that far in advance. Not to mention the director started "expecting" me to pay in advance each year. I did it for 3 yrs and then the 4th year I only paid 6 mths because of that new "no refund" paper, and she was questioning me as to why I didn't pay for the whole year and blah blah blah.



Then if you did transfer to another clinic, it cost $50 to get your stuff copied and sent to the new clinic. They charged $200 for a peak and trough test. OH! I almost forgot. If you chose the orange methadone tablets over the white ones, they charged you and xtra $30 a month to the already $320 a month they charge for dosing/clinic fees.



They charged and/or wanted money for something every time you turned around. I don't go there anymore, but that was definately a clinic where I felt they were there only for the money and didn't care about the pts. I could tell you more horror stories but I am rambling enough already.



Thanks for sharing you guys and kd200304 we are glad to have you.
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