For parents looking for ways to cover the admittedly high price of sending their troubled teens to residential treatment centers, examining their insurance coverage should be one of the first steps they take. Depending on several factors, parents may be able to have their troubled teens’ treatment completely covered, with no out-of-pocket payments.

Criteria For Insurance Coverage Of Residential Treatment

One of the first things parents should do is see if their insurance has any mental health coverage offered. If their insurance does have mental health coverage, some of the criteria for insurance coverage of residential treatment can be more extensive than others.

Pre-authorization – Before going forward with any mental health treatment plan that you hope to have covered by insurance, you will likely need to have it authorized by your insurance provider. This will ensure that your insurance provider will pay for the mental health services you do end up utilizing.

Specialist testing – As residential treatment center programs can be quite pricey, many health insurance providers require a mental health specialist to test troubled teens. Should mental health issues be evident in the teen, then coverage may be issued. Some of the common mental health issues which are covered are:

• Depression
• Bipolar
• OCD
• Anxiety

Specific type of treatment – While the insurance may offer mental health coverage, what is offered can vary greatly from plan-to-plan. Some of the services often covered by mental health insurance are:

• Prescription medication
• Psychological testing
• Individual therapy
• Psychiatric sessions
• Group therapy
• Family therapy

Reimbursement – Some mental health coverage plans require you to pay the initial costs. Only after these are covered can you submit a claim for reimbursement. Also, some plans only extend partial reimbursement.

As troubled teen residential treatment centers have licensed and certified psychiatrists and therapists, they potentially can fit the above requirements for mental health insurance coverage.

Residential Treatment Benefit For Parents Of Adopted Teens

While not exactly coverage, there is a special type of benefit available to some parents of adopted teens. California, in particular, offers financial assistance when looking to place your adopted troubled teen into a residential treatment program. The process can take time, but should your family be approved, this benefit has the potential to cover all of your troubled teen’s residential treatment.

Should you live in a state other than California, be sure to check the adoptive parents’ benefits offered in your state.

How To Find A Troubled Teen Program That Accepts Insurance

It can be frustrating for parents to sort through the thousands of troubled teen programs out there and choose one, only to find that either the programs don’t accept their insurance or the insurance won’t work for that particular program.

At Help Your Teen Now, we can help you cut through that frustration. We have years of experience helping families place their troubled teen in the right program for their teen’s needs. Contact us for free and allow us to help you sort through all the programs out there.