Carelon (Beacon) Insurance Drug & Alcohol Rehab

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.

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.

What Does Addiction Treatment Cost with Carelon Behavioral Health?

Unfortunately all Carelon health plans are individually negotiated with your employer. This means that you may have a different rate depending on who you’re working with. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to use your HR portal and to look at coverage and what your rates are.

Here, some important things to check include:

Here, you can typically very easily get a good idea of what you’re paying. However, it’s most likely to be in percentages of the end-fee plus a deductible. This means your total rate could look like $2,800 of deductible plus 45% coinsurance plus $250 per day with a maximum out of pocket cost of $8,900 (not including coinsurance). That rate would not cover your medication.

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

From there, Carelon will reimburse or cover your healthcare costs just as they would if you were staying in a hospital for any other health condition. Because, that’s what a substance use disorder is, a health condition.

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.