Carelon Behavioral Health Insurance Coverage
Carelon Behavioral Health Coverage
Carelon Insurance (formerly Beacon) is a health insurance provider focusing on holistic or “whole person” healthcare. That makes the provider ideal for individuals seeking our rehab and addiction treatment – because it means the provider has a large amount of coverage for early identification, preventive treatment, and follow-up care. This means Carelon will offer more coverage and earlier than many competitors, because its focus is on preventive care rather than waiting until it is medically necessary.
Carelon also fully supports medication assisted treatment (MAT) programs, which makes this a great provider to have if you need long-term care and maintenance. However, understanding your options, what Carelon will cover and what steps you have to take to get treatment coverage is important.
Carelon is one of the largest healthcare providers in the United States with over 40 million people served. That also means it offers one of the largest networks of health providers and some of the broadest solutions for treatment.
What Types of Drug & Alcohol Rehab Does Carelon Cover?
Carelon offers both behavioral health services and coverage to its members. In most cases, this means you’ll have options to seek out a Carelon healthcare provider or an in-network Carelon provider for substance use disorder treatment of any kind.
Inpatient Care
Patients requiring hospitalization or partial hospitalization can seek out care and treatment and get full coverage with Carelon.
Outpatient Care
Carelon has a large network of outpatient treatment providers.
Social Drivers of Health
Carelon offers coverage for programs improving social health and wellbeing.
Peer Support
Carelon covers wellness and recovery programs including fitness, member-driven training, and outreach.
Specialty Programs
You can get coverage for a wide range of programs including crisis management, child welfare, suicide prevention, and comorbid disorder treatment.
Medication Assisted TreatmentMedications for Opioid Use Disorder
Carelon does not support detox or withdrawal services. Instead, it supports medications for opioid use disorder treatment (MOUD). This means that if you’re with Carelon, you will be moved into a program with medication to manage opioid use disorder.
In most cases, you will only have Carelon through your employer. However, you will request and access care through Carelon directly and not through your employer. Carelon also supports long-term care and long-term medication management, with most programs being 18+ months.
Can You Go to Out of Network Providers?
Carelon allows out of network medical treatment. In addition, if you receive this on an emergency basis, you won’t be responsible for it. However, you can expect that there are additional cost sharing (copay, coinsurance, and deductible) rates which means that you will pay significantly more for your out of network rehab visit.
Therefore, it’s always best to verify that your rehab center is in the Carelon network before moving forward.
Will My Employer Find Out?
One of the largest concerns of using employer-provided healthcare for going to rehab is that your employer will find out. The good news is that your employer isn’t legally allowed to know what your medical problems are. They are not legally allowed to ask you what you are seeking treatment for. In addition, all communications and payments are processed between you and your insurance provider and your health providers and your insurance provider – your employer will never be involved.
It is also illegal for them to be involved in any way. This means that you can safely seek out drug addiction treatment with your employer-provided health plan without your employer finding out.
Getting Started with Addiction Treatment with Carelon
Going to addiction treatment with Carelon is a simple matter of going to your primary doctor. They can refer you to a rehab center, request preauthorization, and ensure that you’re ready to go to rehab with full coverage. However, again, rates and coverage actually significantly vary depending on what your plan is with your employer. Your rates will almost entirely depend on what your employer has negotiated.
• Check rates and coverage with your employer via the HR portal or a fact sheet. You can request this data without saying what it’s for.
• Contact your rehab center and ensure they are in network for Carelon
• Request a referral and preauthorization request from your doctor
• Go to treatment
• Contact your rehab center and ensure they are in network for Carelon
• Request a referral and preauthorization request from your doctor
• Go to treatment
If you’re struggling with substance abuse, getting treatment is important. Carelon also provides significant early treatment and early intervention. This means you can seek out therapy and preventive care with a referral from your doctor and still have that treatment covered. You don’t have to wait until you’re at rock bottom to get help and your insurance plan will still help you get the treatment you need to stay healthy and to get your life back on track. Good luck getting treatment.