Some rehab programs don't charge at all. Many more lower the cost through public funding, a sliding fee scale, payment assistance or Medicaid. The table below counts each of those separately for every state, using the payment details programs report in our directory. A program can appear in more than one column.
How Free and Low-Cost Treatment Works in the US
States run their own publicly funded treatment systems, paid for partly by SAMHSA's Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant. If you don't have insurance, SAMHSA's National Helpline can refer you to your state office, which is responsible for state-funded treatment programs. It can also point you to programs that charge on a sliding fee scale or accept Medicaid.
Programs that get block grant money and serve women must give pregnant women preference for admission. Funded programs that serve people who inject drugs give treatment preference in this order:
- Pregnant women who inject drugs
- Other pregnant women with a substance use disorder
- People who inject drugs
- Everyone else
Insurance is the other route. State Medicaid programs cover addiction treatment, though what's covered differs from state to state. All Health Insurance Marketplace plans cover substance use disorder treatment as an essential health benefit.
A quick note on the columns: "No payment accepted" means the program reports it doesn't charge. "Government-run" programs are operated by a state, county or tribal agency, and some of them still bill insurance or use a sliding scale. "VA, military or IHS" programs are run by the VA, the Department of Defense or the Indian Health Service, and only eligible veterans, military health system patients or American Indian and Alaska Native patients can use them. Sliding-scale, payment-assistance, Medicaid and state-insurance programs lower the cost, but they aren't free.