In OH they are legal adults for all except alcohol at 18. We lived in Cincy for quite a while and a friend of mine ran across this with her 18yo. Parents can CHOOSE to shoulder the bills but the debt is teh 18yo's problem in most situations if the parent will not cover it. Double check this, of course, because it was 9 or 10 yrs ago.
If she overdoses at their home or in their vehicle it is their insurance that will cover it. Their homeowner's insurance would cover the cost of her hospital bills if she is hurt on their property. It is one reason I will allow NO ONE to use an illegal substance on any property I own or am responsible for. Same thing applies for their cars. If they don't have insurance it is still their problem.
Heck, OH has such bizarre alcohol laws that if she is drunk and goes into a restaurant and has even a free glass of water and then is in an accidetn because she is drunk or high - the restaurant and manager and server can be held responsible for her accident and all damages!!! No, this is NOT a joke or old wives tale. When I managed a restaurant in OH we had to go through a lengthy alcohol training program even though we didn't serve alcohol of any kind for just this reason. We had to be able to tell if someone was drunk and call the police. Even a free glass of water meant that we had the responsibility under the law to stop them from driving or getting hurt. A couple of years later I worked at a liquor store and had to do some training from the state liquor board and again this was part of it.
If she is in a major accident or OD's or something a hospital social worker will help her apply for medicare/medicaid and it will be approved to cover her expenses. She won't get the best of care, but she will get care. If she needs major surgery or something it will happen that way too. The hospital will help her because they know it is the only way they will get paid. ER bills will follow her for a while but they will be written off. She won't get a choice of hospitals if she wants to go to a private one, but that is less and less of an issue with the current economic problems.
If she is on your insurance you can possibly be held responsible for her medical bills even though if she didn't have insurance they wouldn't come after you at all.
If you are having financial problems it is likely to be a better choice to cut her and help her later with what you can help her with rather than to spend all your resources keeping her insured when the deductible is that high. You still have a huge rehab bill to pay and she is choosing to not work her program. It might be a wiser financial choice to get her a policy of her own, pay it for a few months and let her pay after that if she wants it. A policy that just covers major medical won't be as expensive as a plan that covers everything.
You also may be ina better position if she ends up needing to take medications regularly if she is uninsured. There are programs that will help her with free medications if she has no insurance, but if she is insured she isn't eligible. We got into a position where we struggled to pay the insurance each month even with the COBRA subsidy but after we paid that we couldn't afford the copays to see docs or get medications. Since we had insurance we couldn't get any help from the manufacturers. Now I can go to the free clinic in our town, staffed with docs who have private practices and are good docs, and tehy even cover the lab tests I couldn't afford (and got dropped from the insurance right after they approved a huge bundle of tests that I need - they didn't outright drop us but they refused to accept our payment in any form and we have learned from many others that this company is doing this right, left and center to others in our situation os that they don't have to cover those with health problems). It will take a few weeks to get all the tests scheduled and done, but it is possible.
She can get birth control free from the county health dept, planned parenthood, or likely from the Dept of Human Services. Same for preg related services though probably not abortion services. At least around here they are not free from most sources - but birth control sure is. Heck, even STD testing can be had for free from the health dept.
She is determined to live life on her own with-o responsibility to the family. maybe she needs to truly experience this so that she can fully experience what she is asking for. It might even help her to truly hit bottom and become determined to overcome her addictions if she knows she doesn't have that safety net of health insurance provided by you to catch her when the health consequences of her actions catches up to her.
it is a TOUGH decision, and these are just things that occur to me. You and your husband have to make this decision and whatever you choose you have to live with. We can make suggestions but we will support you regardless of the decision you make.
Katya has a good idea about holding the neighbors liable for aiding and abetting the drug and alcohol use they are permitting on their property (and supporting most likely). You would have to have some proof, but it cannot be that tough to get. Esp if you drop in to give her something and see/smell drugs or see your daughter inebriated. I don't know if you want to go that route.
