In 2010, the passing of the Affordable Care Act significantly changed the landscape of addiction and mental health treatment. Before the Affordable Care Act (also called Obamacare), insurance companies, whether private or government-funded, could limit or entirely restrict benefit coverage for addiction and mental health treatment services. These sweeping limitations forced many in need of potentially life-saving addiction treatment to forgo seeking help because they could not afford the out-of-pocket cost.
The Affordable Care Act required insurance companies, including Medicare and Medicaid, to include addiction and mental health treatment as part of the benefit packages. Also, they could no longer consider addiction or mental health conditions as a “pre-existing condition,” thereby making the illness something they could consider a non-covered service. Finally, many of the lifetime financial caps pertaining to addiction treatment were raised or waived entirely, ensuring those struggling with addiction can not only attend addiction treatment but can also access essential follow-up care or subsequent addiction treatment in the event of a relapse.
What Is United Healthcare?
United Healthcare is one of the nation’s largest health insurance providers. Globally, United HealthCare provides various types of insurance coverage to more than 45 million people. The company offers a wide range of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, Medicare, and Medicaid beneficiaries. They also service and provide contracts for over one million physicians and care professionals and 6,500 hospitals and care facilities across the United States.
Like many insurance providers, United Health Care offers a wide variety of plans with varying degrees of coverage for addiction treatment. Although most of their plans help with addiction rehab expenses, your out-of-pocket costs will vary depending on your policy and the location where you receive coverage. For example, the plan with the lowest monthly premium will likely require higher copays at the time of service whereas, a plan with a higher monthly premium will require lower copays. To ensure you receive the most comprehensive care, United Healthcare has created a unique and separate division called United Behavioral Health. This division offers confidential services specifically for individuals wanting to seek advice from a substance abuse healthcare professional.
Can I Use United Healthcare to Pay for Rehab?
Yes! You can use your United Health Care plan to pay for addiction treatment services, including:
- Inpatient hospital detoxification
- Outpatient detoxification services
- Inpatient (residential) rehab services
- Outpatient alcohol and drug abuse rehabilitation services
Because each policy is unique, it is important to contact United HealthCare or the admissions professionals at Rise in Malibu to ensure you understand your coverage amounts and limitations before beginning treatment. This is an important step in eliminating unexpected or surprising out-of-pocket expenses related to addiction rehab.
Also, some plans may require precertification for specific services or treatment programs. Fortunately, United Healthcare does not generally require treatment centers to be in-network to provide some coverage level. However, some United Healthcare plans may require higher out-of-pocket co-pays for out-of-network providers.
Rise in Malibu: One of the Rehab Centers That Accept United Healthcare
Knowing your United Healthcare benefits will help cover expenses related to addiction treatment may help make deciding to seek addiction treatment easier. Although apprehension and concern about going to rehab will likely remain, knowing you do not have to “borrow” from family finances removes one of the biggest roadblocks many face when going to rehab.
At Rise in Malibu, we are one of the rehab centers that accept United Healthcare. When you come to our luxury Malibu rehab to overcome addiction, we will work with you to design a comprehensive, evidence-based addiction treatment program that meets your unique addiction treatment needs and goals. To learn more about how you can use your United Healthcare insurance benefits at Rise in Malibu, contact us today.
