Can I use Private Health Insurance to Pay for my Rehab?

If you have Health Insurance, either with your employers, or taken out privately, you may be able to use your policy to pay for treatment

Addiction Helper accepts many major Health Insurance companies, such as Bupa, Aviva and Prudential.

How do I Find out if I can Access Treatment Through my Insurers?

Having spoken to one of Addiction Helper Treatment Counsellors, you will have been advised of an appropriate course of treatment for your condition. Our Treatment Counsellor will also be able to advise if the rehab clinic that they have recommended is likely to be covered by your Insurance company, if not, and this is your only method of payment, an alternative rehab clinic will be suggested. Addiction Helper will be able to send you a written recommendation for your treatment plan and the costs involved, so that if needed you can send this information on to your Insurers.

We would then suggest that you call your Insurers Customer Service department, in order to find out if you are covered under the policy that you hold.

Please remember that different policies will cover different conditions and to varying degrees.

Some policies may cover a period of inpatient treatment in a well-known and well established rehab clinic; others will only cover certain aspects of treatment such as Counselling so it is vital that you find out exactly what your policy covers before committing to a private treatment program.

Questions to ask your Insurers

• Ask your insurers which substances are covered under the policy and whether there are any restrictions that apply
• Find out what treatment is covered, whether it is inpatient, outpatient or counselling
• If you need a detox, ask if a medicated detox will be covered under your policy terms
• Ask about restrictions, i.e. if they only cover certain rehab clinics, if there is a limit on the funds that they will support, if they will cover any additional expenditure incurred, if there is a time limit to the period of treatment that they will cover.
• Ask what their referral for admission procedure is and whether they require you to see one of their company’s doctors first
• Ask if there are any clauses you should be aware of that may invalidate your claim.

Ask for Help

If you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of trying to make an insurance claim whilst you are ill, it is important that you ask for help. Rather than not proceeding with treatment at all as you are finding the whole process too stressful to handle, you could ask a friend to call your Insurers on your behalf. Alternatively we can arrange for a Treatment Admission Manager at a suitable rehab clinic to make the enquiries for you. They are used to dealing with this process.

Our Questions and Answers section will also provide you with simple, general information about addiction and addiction treatment.

For an initial assessment of your treatment needs and advice on suitable treatment plans that may be covered by private health insurance, please call our Addiction Helper helpline today.