Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Centers
Are Drug Rehab Facilities Covered by Group Health Insurance?
Dec 1, 2008
Unfortunately, the love and support of a family is often not enough to make the addicted individual stop drinking or taking drugs. There comes a time when professional help in the form of a rehabilitation facility is required.
Searching for the Right Rehab Facility
Adding to the difficulty of dealing with a loved one that is suffering from substance abuse, is finding the right rehab facility to help kick the addictive habit. Many families are overwhelmed and totally unaware of where to turn or how to begin the process of finding a drug treatment center.
The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration run by the United States Department of Health and Human Services has an online database of over 11,000 addiction treatment programs located around the US.
The facilities offer services from detoxification to substance abuse treatment. The database lists the type of care, whether in or out patient, primary focus of the facility and contact information. The database is kept current as it is updated weekly.
Funding Drug Rehab through Insurance
After locating a facility, individuals should check to see if their group health insurance coverage would pay for the rehabilitation. To address the rising problem of insurance and substance abuse treatment, many states have enacted mental health parity laws.
In essence, the mental health parity law forces health insurance plans to offer insurance coverage for mental health treatment that is equal to insurance provided for physical illnesses. Substance abuse (alcohol and drug abuse) is considered a mental illness under the parity law.
Be aware, however that the parity law is broken down into varying degrees of coverage ranging from comprehensive parity which requires equal coverage for a broads range of conditions to minimum mandated benefit which means that the group health provider does not have to offer coverage for mental health equal to that offered for physical conditions. Therefore, it is important to become familiar with the state’s stance on the parity law to find out whether or not a loved one can rely on group health insurance for drug/alcohol abuse rehabilitation.
For a detailed listing of how each state responds to the parity law and whether or not it responds to a comprehensive or mandated definition, visit the National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) website.
Alternative Rehab Center Funding
For individuals with group health insurance policies that do not totally cover the rehabilitation facility cost, some facilities attempt to make the costs more palatable by offering a sliding scale payment plans. In essence, those who have the financial ability to pay more, do and those with limited financial resources pay according to their ability.
 |
