One of the greatest barriers to drug treatment is cost. Fortunately, there are many feasible ways for addressing this barrier and getting essential addiction recovery services. This remains true even if you don’t currently have health insurance. If you or someone you love is ready to enter rehab, there are multiple ways to cover the costs of both inpatient and outpatient programs. According to the Affordable Care Act, drug addiction or substance use disorder is classified as a chronic mental health issue. As such, private pay health insurance companies are required to cover a minimum amount of policyholders’ addiction treatment.
Moreover, insurance companies can no longer penalize applicants for having substance use disorder as a known, pre-existing condition. This means that you still have the option of searching for an affordable health insurance plan, and can then use this same plan to pay for rehab. Most rehab facilities offer multiple payment options. When a new health insurance plan won’t cover all of your treatment costs, you can pay for the remainder using a debit card, a credit card, or cash. You can also make payment arrangements for uncovered treatment costs or apply for scholarship monies. Whether you have insurance, are under-insured, or don’t have any health insurance at all, you can additionally work with admissions counselors at your chosen drug treatment center to establish a manageable, affordable plan for getting the help you need.
Cost Shouldn’t Prevent You From Entering Drug Treatment
Although cost is frequently understood as being among the greatest barriers to addiction recovery, it really doesn’t have to be. Just as there are many options for paying for rehab, there are also multiple rehab types. If you’re looking for treatment services on a modest budget, you can look for treatment options at specific price points. There are:
- Short and long-term inpatient programs
- Outpatient programs
- Intensive outpatient programs
- Partial hospitalization programs
and more. Inpatient addiction treatment offers around-the-clock services and support. People in inpatient rehab live on closed, secure campuses full-time. These environments completely remove recovering addicts from outside temptations and stressors. They also give people the opportunity to focus solely on getting well. Inpatient addiction treatment might be the best choice for you if you:
- Have a history of using a highly addictive substance
- Have a history of relapsing
- Have a co-occurring disorder
or have been using drugs for a very long time. However, given that patients live in-house and have access to seasoned medical and rehab professionals 24 hours a day and seven days per week, inpatient rehab is also the most expensive drug treatment type. Outpatient rehab is less costly and requires a far lesser commitment of time. Depending upon their level of intensity, outpatient rehab services require patients to spend just 12 to 35 hours per week on campus. Once they’re done participating in onsite activities, patients can go to school or work, and return home. If you don’t have the budget for inpatient treatment but have multiple risk factors for relapse, you might choose an intensive outpatient program (IOP).
You’ll have access to the same therapies and treatment modalities that are offered in inpatient rehab, but you’ll ultimately pay far less to use them. Partial hospitalization programs or day programs are slightly more intensive than IOPs, and yet they still cost less than most inpatient treatment services. When you’ve found a drug treatment center that you like, you can also speak with an admissions counselor to learn more about available scholarship opportunities. Many charitable organizations regularly offer scholarship monies to help recovering addicts access essential addiction treatments. These funds are often offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Most scholarships are also needs-based. You can work with admissions counselors to both identify these opportunities and apply for them. You can even ask to join wait lists when these funding opportunities are not immediately available. Many recovering addicts and their families also use fundraising to address any financial shortfalls they experience.
Admissions counselors frequently offer tips and tools for establishing crowdsourcing campaigns both online and off. No matter how hopeless a person’s circumstances might seem, there are always resources and strategies that can be leveraged to access professional drug treatment. Whether shopping for a budget-friendly drug treatment center or establishing the right multi-pronged payment plan, you can definitely find a way to overcome the all-too-common barrier of treatment cost. If you’re ready to enter rehab but aren’t quite sure how you’ll pay for it, we can help. Get in touch with us now by calling 833-497-3812. Our counselors are always standing by.