Question about Rehab
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 70
Question about Rehab
Hello!
I was curious how much an intensive outpatient rehab program might cost? An addiction counselor recommended it for my H and he went to do the intake assessment. Even with insurance, they said it would cost $8000. So, I am curious if that is true?
If it is, that's hugely expensive!? How do people get help? And, what would be the difference between that program and AA?
Thanks.
Wheelsup
I was curious how much an intensive outpatient rehab program might cost? An addiction counselor recommended it for my H and he went to do the intake assessment. Even with insurance, they said it would cost $8000. So, I am curious if that is true?
If it is, that's hugely expensive!? How do people get help? And, what would be the difference between that program and AA?
Thanks.
Wheelsup
Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 219
Wheelsup,
I just finished posting elsewhere what my costs have been so far... I have a high deductible plan, and one month of Inpatient Therapy maxed out my out-of-pocket of $9k (have yet to see the actual bill to the insurance company). Now granted, that was for a pretty high end facility.. 4-5 patients per therapist... 21 hours+ of individual therapy/week and 2-3 hours of family therapy/week. She did really well and hopefully it was worth every penny.
She is not off to intensive out-patient... room and board are running about $1500/month. Not sure about the therapy itself... as we have maxed our out-of-pocket... will be interesting to see all the bills.
Just got the bill for her 5 day detox stay at the hospital... over $33k billed to insurance... and about $4k of that will be out of pocket.
Getting sober is not cheap. The cost of the addiction is staggering, and the cost of getting sober even more so.... and then it will always be an ongoing cost.... driving to meetings, therapy, relapses, etc... it is big business.
However, in the end, I get my wife back (I hope)
and that is priceless.
T
I just finished posting elsewhere what my costs have been so far... I have a high deductible plan, and one month of Inpatient Therapy maxed out my out-of-pocket of $9k (have yet to see the actual bill to the insurance company). Now granted, that was for a pretty high end facility.. 4-5 patients per therapist... 21 hours+ of individual therapy/week and 2-3 hours of family therapy/week. She did really well and hopefully it was worth every penny.
She is not off to intensive out-patient... room and board are running about $1500/month. Not sure about the therapy itself... as we have maxed our out-of-pocket... will be interesting to see all the bills.
Just got the bill for her 5 day detox stay at the hospital... over $33k billed to insurance... and about $4k of that will be out of pocket.
Getting sober is not cheap. The cost of the addiction is staggering, and the cost of getting sober even more so.... and then it will always be an ongoing cost.... driving to meetings, therapy, relapses, etc... it is big business.
However, in the end, I get my wife back (I hope)
and that is priceless.T
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 25,373
AA is free. Well, $1 in the basket per meeting.
I don't think the cost is the issue. The issue is the alcoholic being willing to do whatever it takes. AA works as well as rehab for some people. They just have to want it. That's the tricky bit.
I don't think the cost is the issue. The issue is the alcoholic being willing to do whatever it takes. AA works as well as rehab for some people. They just have to want it. That's the tricky bit.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,103
If it is, that's hugely expensive!? How do people get help? And, what would be the difference between that program and AA?
Over the course of 15 years my ex and his family spent over a half a million dollars at various well know facilities in attempts to get him clean/sober. In the end it was his will and AA that gained him the most amount of sober time.
Recovery isn’t for people who need it it’s for people who WANT IT.
Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 13,560
When my XAH went to inpatient rehab for 30 days our out of pocket after insurance was around $4500. That was not a great place. Had there been more research done, he should have went to a dual diagnosis facility for a lot longer than 30 days. Hindsight that I will leave is he was sober for 1 year after rehab. Then it all fell apart again.
What the people above are saying is so true. You have to want it, badly enough to work for it every single day, forever. It's not a light commitment and not one many stick with unfortunately.
What the people above are saying is so true. You have to want it, badly enough to work for it every single day, forever. It's not a light commitment and not one many stick with unfortunately.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 356
RAH was in mandatory rehab for 90 days last year. First month was $30,000, the last 2 months were $14,000 so almost 50G for 3 months (he did not get to choose which facility he went to). It covers room and board and therapy. It does not cover any medical testing/meds etc. The last 2 months he was in a house with a few roommates. They had to do their own cooking but were given a weekly stipend for that. They also drive them all over town to many different AA/NA meetings. They got to use the hospital gym since exercise was strongly encouraged. Our insurance paid exactly $0. They do have scholarships available for those that qualify.
I don't think the cost is the issue. The issue is the alcoholic being willing to do whatever it takes. AA works as well as rehab for some people. They just have to want it. That's the tricky bit.
This is very true. That said, I think longtime/severe alcoholics will more than likely not succeed with just AA. I can tell you that my RAH after 40+ years really needed rehab to deal with all the underlying dysfunctional behaviors. He was 10 days clean when he went to rehab, he did not need it to stop drinking . AA is and was a big part of his recovery program but I am pretty confident it would not have been enough to deal with the behaviors. It took 7 weeks of intensive therapy at rehab before they started making a dent in his behaviors. I never would have thought he needed rehab but once he was there we both realized how badly he needed it. Now if you have no other options it is obviously better than nothing but a lot those behaviors are so ingrained that it will take more than AA to change that for the majority of people.
And if the A does not want to change then nothing will work no matter how much money you throw at it.
I don't think the cost is the issue. The issue is the alcoholic being willing to do whatever it takes. AA works as well as rehab for some people. They just have to want it. That's the tricky bit.
This is very true. That said, I think longtime/severe alcoholics will more than likely not succeed with just AA. I can tell you that my RAH after 40+ years really needed rehab to deal with all the underlying dysfunctional behaviors. He was 10 days clean when he went to rehab, he did not need it to stop drinking . AA is and was a big part of his recovery program but I am pretty confident it would not have been enough to deal with the behaviors. It took 7 weeks of intensive therapy at rehab before they started making a dent in his behaviors. I never would have thought he needed rehab but once he was there we both realized how badly he needed it. Now if you have no other options it is obviously better than nothing but a lot those behaviors are so ingrained that it will take more than AA to change that for the majority of people.
And if the A does not want to change then nothing will work no matter how much money you throw at it.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: W Washington
Posts: 11,589
there is no reason they would give you faulty information about cost. however there may be other facilities that have a different cost structure.
but none of that matters without the willingness of the alcoholic to change. inpatient treatment, outpatient, prescription drugs, therapy, AA or any other program of recovery cannot of themselves FIX the problem. they are kind of like Do-It-Yourself auto repair garages - they offer structure and tools but the individual must put them all to use.
but none of that matters without the willingness of the alcoholic to change. inpatient treatment, outpatient, prescription drugs, therapy, AA or any other program of recovery cannot of themselves FIX the problem. they are kind of like Do-It-Yourself auto repair garages - they offer structure and tools but the individual must put them all to use.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 356
If it is, that's hugely expensive!? How do people get help? And, what would be the difference between that program and AA?
In rehab they get intensive psycho therapy and psych evals as well as the majority of addicts have underlying psych issues. I think if my RAH had done out patient therapy and AA only it would have taken years to get where he was after 3 months of rehab (and even in the past year he has changed a lot, it takes lot of time to change life long bad habits).
And when you are in rehab you focus on your recovery 24/7. if you still work and have all your other daily responsibilities it is sometimes hard to go to as many meetings as you should and fit in therapy etc.
I think the majority of people would benefit from 90 days of rehab (30 would not have been enough for my H) but most people cannot afford that. Probably why so many addicts relapse so often. They cannot get the care that they really need even if they want to get clean. People get sent to detox but then once they're out a lot of times they're sort of left to their own devices and 1 week of detox doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg.
In rehab they get intensive psycho therapy and psych evals as well as the majority of addicts have underlying psych issues. I think if my RAH had done out patient therapy and AA only it would have taken years to get where he was after 3 months of rehab (and even in the past year he has changed a lot, it takes lot of time to change life long bad habits).
And when you are in rehab you focus on your recovery 24/7. if you still work and have all your other daily responsibilities it is sometimes hard to go to as many meetings as you should and fit in therapy etc.
I think the majority of people would benefit from 90 days of rehab (30 would not have been enough for my H) but most people cannot afford that. Probably why so many addicts relapse so often. They cannot get the care that they really need even if they want to get clean. People get sent to detox but then once they're out a lot of times they're sort of left to their own devices and 1 week of detox doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg.
Michael Satterfield
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 5
The cost depends on the facility, what sort of insurance you have, how the facility is funded, what sort of facility it is etc. Honestly, if you can get into treatment it does help with the early stages of recovery. The more time you have clean and sober the easier it gets. Intensive outpatients have some definite benefits, one being they help a person to begin to develop tools for long term recovery.
The financial issues can be worked out in a lot of different ways. My best suggestion is to research any facility you're considering going into.
The financial issues can be worked out in a lot of different ways. My best suggestion is to research any facility you're considering going into.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 219
The others are correct in that the addict must want to recover. Just finished talking to my wife... she just transferred to an outpatient facility... she is very hopeful and encouraged. She is determined to remain sober... and she agrees that today, she has no desire to use... so her desire to be sober is what has made her make the effort.
Wheelsup, what part of the country are you in?
T
Wheelsup, what part of the country are you in?
T
Member
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 60
I find this question to be an interesting one also.
We paid zero out of pocket for my husband's rehab, other than the plane ticket to get him there and back. I think had we not met the insurance deductible already for the year, it would have been a total of $500 out of pocket.
There are other charges posted to and paid by the insurance company that were managed and ordered by the rehab, such as drug testing and physician charges, so this total does not include those.
It's also notable that this is not what the rehab charged the insurance company; this is what the insurance company paid in total. The rehab was inpatient and included detox. It was just shy of 60 days (due to it ending on a holiday, they sprung him a few days early).
I had been keeping up with the totals for a while but then sort of stopped looking not long after he returned.
The total paid by our insurance to my husband's rehab: $120,597.75.
This was inpatient in that he lived in one of their houses and followed their rules, going to a treatment center M-F with enrichment activities on the weekend, but I think they billed it as intensive outpatient in order not to have to be under the thumb of an insurance management situation.
That is a lot of money. No way could we have afforded this. I doubt most people could.
We paid zero out of pocket for my husband's rehab, other than the plane ticket to get him there and back. I think had we not met the insurance deductible already for the year, it would have been a total of $500 out of pocket.
There are other charges posted to and paid by the insurance company that were managed and ordered by the rehab, such as drug testing and physician charges, so this total does not include those.
It's also notable that this is not what the rehab charged the insurance company; this is what the insurance company paid in total. The rehab was inpatient and included detox. It was just shy of 60 days (due to it ending on a holiday, they sprung him a few days early).
I had been keeping up with the totals for a while but then sort of stopped looking not long after he returned.
The total paid by our insurance to my husband's rehab: $120,597.75.
This was inpatient in that he lived in one of their houses and followed their rules, going to a treatment center M-F with enrichment activities on the weekend, but I think they billed it as intensive outpatient in order not to have to be under the thumb of an insurance management situation.
That is a lot of money. No way could we have afforded this. I doubt most people could.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 6,262
I don't think the cost is the issue. The issue is the alcoholic being willing to do whatever it takes. AA works as well as rehab for some people. They just have to want it. That's the tricky bit.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 219
Originally Posted by NYCDoglvr 
I got sober without a rehab, strictly with AA, but it was very tough. For the first three months I cried in meeting and everyone said I was detoxing. In hindsight I wish I'd gone to a rehab. Granted I was desperate and knew if I didn't stay sober I'd kill myself in a blackout. In AA's Big Book there's reference to the "gift of desperation" and I certainly had that. Keep in mind that the incidence of relapse is very high: rehabs figure 10% stay sober.
The rehab facility my wife went to gave me the following stats about long term sobriety... withing the first 12 months.... 40 - 80% maintain sobriety... after 12 months... 4% (unless IOP then the number increases to 24% for a 12 month IOP program). They explained that the first 12 months is about the rehab techniques keeping the addict "fresh"... the longer term sobriety is more about the maintenance program that is followed. My wife made 9ish years sober since her last rehab, so i know she can do it and knows how to do it...
T
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