Whether you are dealing with an addiction to alcohol, prescription medications or an illegal substance, the consequences can be severe. If you don’t receive the treatment you need, your health, career and personal life may all suffer. In the worst cases, drug addiction can even lead to your death.
If you have recently lost your insurance, you may worry that you cannot afford drug rehab. However, if you lost your coverage because of certain circumstances, you may qualify for continued insurance coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.
COBRA Basics
COBRA was passed in order to prevent a loss of insurance coverage among people who no longer qualify for group insurance policies. This law most often applies when an individual loses employer-sponsored group coverage because of a reduction in hours or termination of employment. If you qualify for COBRA, you can elect to keep coverage under your employer’s plan temporarily while you look for a new policy.
Understanding Your Benefits
COBRA does not provide you with a new insurance policy. Instead, the law simply allows you to keep the same policy you had before you lost coverage. Thus, your addiction treatment benefits will depend on the provisions of your insurance policy. To determine how much you will be required to pay for your addiction treatment, you must consider your:
- Deductible
- Coinsurance
- Copays
- Referral Requirements
Choosing a COBRA Drug Rehab Treatment Center
As you select your COBRA Drug Rehab Treatment Center, keep in mind that you may be required to select a center from your insurance policy’s network in order to qualify for maximum benefits. If your policy features a health maintenance organization, or HMO, choosing a treatment center from outside of the network may result in no coverage from your policy. On the other hand, if your policy features a preferred provider organization, or PPO, choosing a COBRA Drug Rehab Treatment Center from outside of the network may simply lower the amount of coverage you receive from the insurance company.
In addition, some policies may require you to obtain precertification before you begin treatment at a drug rehab facility. Without precertification, your benefits may be reduced. To find out more about the benefits you will receive under your specific policy, consult your plan documents or contact the insurance company directly.