When it comes to behavioral health treatment, there are several levels of care that are usually based on the severity of the condition of the individual needing care. Sometimes facilities or programs will be able to provide more than one of these levels of care on site and/or within their network.
We have included billable rate ranges for insurance to understand the significant discounts available for direct pay relationships by comparison. Facilities that have in-network contracts with various payers/insurance plans have specified contracted rates that may be lower than the range listed here, and cash discounts are typically lower than those in-network amounts. However, choosing an in-network facility also means that your care is often augmented by the number of days allowed by the payer.
These include, but are not limited to:
Detoxification – Detox is often the first step for people with substance use or addiction where medical monitoring and prescribing are involved to avoid dangerous withdrawal effects and reduce associated symptoms. Depending on the substance(s), detox may last as little as 24-hr observation to sometimes as much as 10-14 days.
Detox centers often have a billable rate of $1,600 – $4,000 per day for treatment when filing insurance. What insurance policies actually pay them varies based on the individual plans, network status, location, and other factors.
Inpatient/Residential Treatment – It has become less common for people to be able to go to residential treatment for a full 30 days, primarily due to insurance. In many areas, this has been reduced to 21 or even 14 days as an inpatient stabilization period before forcing people to step down to a lower level of care.
Residential treatment is often billed out at $1,000 – $3,000 per day. Sundays are usually excluded as billable days, so facilities are left with the cost of room and board and support staff on days where clinical treatment is not being delivered.
Partial Hospitalization/Day Treatment (PHP) – PHP is full time day treatment that usually consists of six hours per day for five days per week. In many cases it can be nearly identical to the number of clinical hours at a residential facility, at roughly 30 hours of clinical treatment per week. While room and board are excluded from this, and insurance typically doesn’t pay for it, there are many programs that offer a housing component to combine with PHP to be a closer approximation to residential care.
PHP is typically billed out at $750 – $2,500 per day.
Intensive Outpatient (IOP) – There has been a significant rise in the number of IOPs around the country, for multiple reasons. In some cases it is because people are looking for local, part-time treatment while tending to other responsibilities in life. This is often used as a step-down from higher levels of care. It has also risen in popularity because insurance limits the number of days at the higher levels of care and so the only way to get continued treatment is to attend intensive outpatient services.
IOP requires a minimum of three hours of treatment at a minimum of three days per week. This can also be four days or five days per week, and sometimes may be four hours per day.
These typically do not include housing, though some IOPs do have available housing as an option.
IOPs usually bill out at $600 – $1,800 per day.
Outpatient Treatment – Regular outpatient treatment usually consists of one to three hours per day at one or two days per week. This is often a blend of both group and individual therapy services.
Outpatient treatment may bill out at $400 – $1,200 per day.
There may also be housing associated with lower levels of care, such as a sober living facility or recovery residence, though these are also available separate from treatment services.
Aftercare – Treatment alone is rarely enough. Aftercare is essential, especially during the first 12 months post treatment, as that is where new habits are created to replace the old ones. While many facilities have basic alumni support or recommend recovery groups and/or therapists, these traditional combinations often fall short of what is needed to transition to a new life. This is why programs like the one below can be vital for improving long-term results.
