A lot of people have commented here on The Suboxone Blog about their need for opiate addiction treatment and a problem with being able to pay for it. It makes sense. Drug addiction may destroy relationships, careers, and your health but it attacks the bank account first. I mean, prescription painkillers aren’t cheap, whether you buy them on the street, off your cousin or get them legitimately from the drugstore. And while insurance may cover part of your prescription, many don’t have insurance and covering the cost of the dose that seems to grow exponentially along with your addiction is enough to send you to the brink.

So when you’re already broke and more desperately in need of treatment than ever, how do you pay for drug rehab when you need it the most?

It’s more difficult, certainly, but not impossible.

Funded Facilities

Whether it’s a nonprofit with a special grant, a hospital with a research grant, or a country/city/state facility with drug rehabilitation paid for by the taxpayers, there’s most likely somewhere that at least offers a sliding scale payment where you pay what you can. Others arrange payment plans or take Medicare and Medicaid. If you need inpatient service, check out the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator or call 800.662.HELP (-4357). You’ll get a list of options, which you can call for more information about payment options. If you need an outpatient treatment, you can contact Meditox and talk to them about their payment plans.

Praying for Help

Okay, I’m not a fan of this one, but I feel obligated to help you find treatment wherever it is offered. President Bush has a drug addiction initiative called Access to Recovery. Here’s the blurb on the White House Drug Policy site:

Access to Recovery will ensure access and accountability for alcohol and drug abuse services by allowing individuals greater choices among appropriate programs. It would enable eligible individuals to use federal alcohol and drug abuse vouchers to obtain help at all effective treatment organizations, including faith-based and community-based organizations. This would expand treatment utilization and accountability, thereby broadening and strengthening the current system.

Roughly translated, faith-based organizations are prioritized and not all states have access to this particular form of recovery.

Be a Guinea Pig

Another way to get the funding for treatment is to opt into some cutting edge research trials. This may be a way to subsidize your medical treatment at Meditox with some new therapeutic research trials or just trials that want to monitor your success as you go through whatever program you choose. Either way, it’s a little extra money to pay for your treatment and a little extra incentive to stay on track. When people say, “Don’t be a statistic,” you’d actually have the option to live in such a way that you change the statistics. Nice.

Don’t Give Up

Finding money to pay for treatment whether you break open the piggy bank or borrow it from a relative is ultimately one of the best investments you can make. If you have access to the funds, even on a credit card, the freedom to stay clean and the ability to work when you’re done makes it as good as investing in college—if not better. It’s simple: if you’re an addict, you need treatment. Do what you have to do to get the help you need as quickly as possible.

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"Drug Rehab on a Budget" posted in Addiction Recovery, Drug Rehab.
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