How to Find Free Drug Addiction Treatment

Free drug addiction treatment isn’t easy to come by, but with a little bit of planning and research, you may be able to get the help you need at no cost. However, don’t let the word “free” fool you – in most cases,  free substance abuse treatment is as good as or even better than treatment at expensive “high end” rehab centers.

The following are 4 methods of obtaining free alcohol or drug addiction treatment services, including long-term residential inpatient rehab programs.

Public Assistance Programs & Medicaid

There are likely more than 1,000 free addiction treatment services available in the United States, and many of these are publicly funded. This includes tax-supported programs at the city, county, state and federal levels. Many free or low-cost rehabs can be found by using the treatment facility locator provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services

Using the facility locator requires some patience and tenacity and may involve further legwork, including contacting potential treatment providers to clarify programs and requirements.

Searching for publicly funded drug addiction treatment at the local level can be a little more complicated. However, a good place to start is at the town or city offices of the location where you’d ideally like to get treatment. Public welfare programs like those offered by the state Department of Health and Human Services are often excellent referral sources for free drug treatment.

***An important note about Medicaid: If you have no insurance and no income, you may qualify for Medicaid – especially if you receive any other type of public assistance. To check eligibility and to learn more about the benefits of this public insurance program.

If you are disabled or feel that you have mental, emotional or physical limitations that will permanently keep you from being able to obtain and maintain gainful employment, you may qualify for disability benefits under the Social Security program, which could entitle you to receive alcohol or drug treatment at no cost to you.

States also offer insurance programs that are similar to Medicare but are funded and managed at the state level. For instance, in the state of Maine, consider applying for Maine Care, while in Vermont applications for Green Mountain Care may provide the needed free drug addiction treatment. A quick Google search will find the information for public health and medical insurance programs in your state.

Verify Your Benefits Today

If you do have health insurance, you can check to see if it would cover some of the cost of your addiction treatment. Just fill out the form below.

Religious, Non-Profit & Charitable Groups

How to Find Free Drug Addiction Treatment

For some people, religious and charitable groups can be an excellent source of free addiction treatment. (However, keep in mind that in most cases the treatment offered by a religious group will likely be religious/spiritual in nature.)

Some of these groups may already have funds in place specifically for members or other recipients to attend a rehab program, while in other cases special exceptions may be made in order to get someone the help they need using discretionary funds.

In order to learn more about this possible source of no-cost drug or alcohol rehab treatment, you should contact the congregation or organization you feel most comfortable with.

For other sources of religious help, consider checking out the Christians in Recovery website found here: http://christians-in-recovery.org/. For charitable help, you can begin by checking with the Salvation Army, which provides assistance to people who need it regardless of religious affiliation.

12 Step & Online Programs

Many people have achieved and maintained sobriety through 12 Step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. These programs are completely free and depending on where you live daily treatment in the form of meetings, groups, events, and networking may be available. For more information and to find meetings and other recovery-related events near you.

Another option is online drug treatment communities and groups, including AA and NA meetings that are offered entirely over the web.

This enables people who live in rural areas the opportunity to get some help without having to travel farther than the nearest internet connection. One of the best sources of these types of online drug treatment communities is Step Chat, but more are just a Google search away.

Drug Rehab Scholarships

A little-known secret in the drug addiction treatment industry is that many drug and alcohol rehab centers offer scholarships. Awarded under a wide variety of conditions, scholarships often provide completely free drug addiction treatment, or at least partially funded treatment.

In some cases, a scholarship may match your insurance contributions. For example, if your insurance will only pay for half of the cost of treatment, the sponsoring rehab center may offer a scholarship to fund the remainder of the cost.

However, checking to see if you can get a scholarship requires some work on your part, as few treatment centers advertise their scholarship offerings. This means you may need to contact rehab programs directly, plead your case and ask if they have a scholarship available. If not, they may be able to offer a referral to some other type of free or publicly funded rehab facility.

Finding free drug addiction treatment isn’t hard if you put just half the effort into it that you did into finding, consuming and managing your drug or alcohol use. Nearly all of the research and legwork that needs to be done to find free treatment can be accomplished from the privacy of your own home using nothing more than a computer and a telephone.

If you don’t have either of these resources, you can use your local public library’s computer to research and a free calling program like Skype to make your phone calls right on the PC.

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