Are you in the following situation? You have a child or a spouse who’s been taking drugs or drinking heavily for some time now, and they can’t seem to stop. You envision a tough, long road of rehabilitation ahead, but you know it’s going to be hard to get them to go to rehab in the first place – or you have tried already and were unsuccessful.
A professional intervention becomes a logical solution to getting your loved one into rehab, but you start worrying about how much your insurance will cover when it comes to intervention and the subsequent treatment process.
In this post, we will discuss what insurance covers, plus what to do and the mindset you have to have if you need to pay out of pocket for an intervention.
Are Interventions Covered by Insurance?
First of all, let’s get this out of the way: Interventions are not covered by insurance. Although we may disagree with their assessment, insurers don’t deem interventions as medically necessary. Not much we can do about that, at the moment.
But now that you know the intervention your loved one needs will not be insurance friendly, we’re going to give you a clearer picture of what to expect next in order to relieve any anxieties you may have.
How Much Does an Intervention Usually Cost?
As of the writing of this post, interventions tend to run anywhere between $3,800 and $18,000, depending on whom you enlist to do the intervention. It really varies widely, but most interventions tend to cost less than $6,000, or just over that mark if you count a few nominal expenses.
If you’re ready to move forward with requesting an intervention, we recommend finding someone who requests all charges up front. If you pay everything at the start, there’s a good chance they’re going to provide additional and ongoing services to your family after the intervention, such as family counseling or drug testing of your loved one. All of these services are included with your original fees, in this case.
Be wary of interventionists who offer you a low price or a “deal” on the front end, but then charge for every little service offered afterward. Some may even charge a separate fee for getting your loved one into a treatment, and then another charge for transporting him or her to the facility. These individuals probably won’t even talk to you after the intervention unless you pay another fee.
What About Treatment Centers that Offer to Do It at No Extra Charge?
In reality, the only time you’ll ever hear that your intervention will be covered by insurance is if you’ve already called a specific treatment center and they’ve offered to do the intervention at no extra charge.
What this means is that they’ve checked and seen that you have a great insurance plan, so they’re willing to play with the numbers in order to offer the intervention for free or to make it look like it’s covered by your insurance. But, make no mistake, the intervention isn’t really covered by your insurance plan.
Intervention Helpline Founder Mike Loverde explains further in the following minute-and-a-half video:
When you go through a treatment center for an intervention, the interventionist’s primary goal is going to be to get your loved one admitted into their facility at all costs. If the individual spends most of the intervention time by handing out brochures and selling your family on the treatment center that sent them, this should raise a red flag.
Basically, anytime the treatment center is offering “free” perks – such as an intervention and covering the flight to their facility – it’s because of all of the insurance money they’re making off you. This is called inducement.
Learn more about the pitfalls of having a treatment center handle the intervention process in our recent blog post:
Drawbacks of Treatment Center-Provided Interventions
Check with Your Insurance Company Directly
Anytime you call a treatment center and express even a moderate interest in their program, one of the first things they will want to do is verify your insurance benefits. Again, you’re painting yourself into a corner if you’re letting a specific treatment center do all of the legwork and research for you.
Instead, call your insurance provider directly before you have a treatment center try to tell you whether you’re covered for an intervention. Ask your insurer’s customer service rep if you’re covered for a substance abuse intervention. If they say yes, which isn’t likely, ask them to send you a copy of your plan that has a line item for interventions. This is the best way to know for certain.
Perspectives on the Cost of Interventions
“Interventions are so expensive! I might as well try to do it myself or wait until my loved one hits rock bottom and is ready for rehab,” you might think.
Sure, paying $5,000 or $6,000 seems intimidating and maybe even impossible. But, is it really that much when compared to what it costs you and your loved one to let their substance use rage on each year? It’s not only the cost of the drugs or alcohol directly, but also the expenses associated with housing, meals, utilities, lost wages, etc. to support this addiction.
And, what about if you delay finding treatment and your loved one gets just one DUI? The expenses associated with the ticket, jail time and legal fees will likely overshadow the cost of an intervention.
To think about this on a more dire level, what if your loved one overdoses or get fatally injured while being under the influence? Is that worth skipping the intervention that could have gotten them into a life-changing and -saving addiction treatment program?
So, don’t wait for rock bottom to hit; it could mean overdose, permanent health damage or death. Do whatever you can to cobble together the few thousand dollars now for an intervention, even if you have to borrow from a loved one or take out a loan. The price of saving your loved one’s life is invaluable.
Advantages of Enlisting Intervention Helpline
At Intervention Helpline, we don’t play games and try to tell you the intervention you’re asking for will be covered by insurance, because it won’t be. We believe that all expenses should be handled up front, but these include the treatment center placement, ongoing family counseling and case-management services we will provide for months to come.
You won’t be subject to any hidden or belated charges when you enlist one of our professional and certified interventionists. We are not beholden to any specific treatment center, meaning we will help your family choose the rehab program that’s truly best for your loved one’s needs, not because we’re getting a kickback from a certain facility.
Contact Intervention Helpline to get the job done right the first time, and to receive ongoing guidance and counseling beyond the intervention itself.