EDITORIAL: Make detox a more feasible option for families

It's hard to believe that parents can't make a drug-addicted child go through detox. But it's true. Parents can walk troubled offspring in the front door of a detox facility, but the child can legally walk right out the back. No parent fighting to save a child's life should be that powerless.

State Sen. Brian Foley (D-Blue Point) has introduced legislation to change that. It would allow parents or guardians to petition a court to require a medical exam and drug detoxification for a child under age 18. With heroin ravaging Long Island teens, the legislature should give parents that tool. Detox programs provide medical management of the difficult process of ridding the body of drugs. It's not addiction treatment, but the moment of clarity detox provides can be a critical step toward recovery.

The second major provision of Foley's bill, a requirement that insurance companies pay for inpatient detox, is more problematic. Detox takes three days to a week and costs about $1,000 a day - an amount that, while modest for insurance companies, can be out of reach for some families. But coverage mandates drive up the cost of insurance, which is already soaring. And this one would likely mean less use of outpatient detox, a cheaper alternative that can be effective.

The absence of a mandate shouldn't mean that insurers can arbitrarily deny inpatient detox. State insurance officials should make sure companies live up to the terms of their policies. And legislators should empower parents looking to detox to free their child from heroin's deadly grip. hN