If you are seeking heroin rehab for yourself, friend or family member, the issue of cost is going to come up. The good news is that it can be as little as $0. It can also be $25,000 or more. It all depends on the type of treatment you need, the facility you choose, and your insurance coverage.

Type of Treatment

Not all heroin addiction rehab treatment is the same. In fact, people can have widely varying views of what heroin rehab is. One of the most common misconceptions is that heroin rehab is detoxing, or riding the body of the drug itself. In reality, this is only the beginning. Following are the typical stages of heroin drug rehab process:

Detox – $8,000 to $25,000 for five days

In the hospital-like setting of a detox center, clients are monitored for withdrawal symptoms, which are measured on a scale from mild to severe. They are treated for any complications that may arise. Fluids, essential vitamins and minerals that may be lacking from extended heroin use are administered. Withdrawing in a detox center allows for a more comfortable experience… and a safer one, too.

Still, heroin detoxification with 24-hour medical monitoring is the most expensive phase of treatment. In fact, the national average is $25,462 for five days. In Port St. Lucie, Florida, it averages less than half of that ($10,521) with prices ranging from $8,075 to $12,967. (MDSave)

There is a special caution here. While putting someone through detox will get them past the physical withdrawal stage, if that’s the only treatment they receive, they are likely to go back to using heroin… and quickly:

“It is very common for people who complete withdrawal management to relapse to drug use. It is unrealistic to think that withdrawal management will lead to sustained abstinence. Rather, withdrawal management is an important first step before a patient commences psychosocial treatment.” (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1970)

Relapsing after withdrawal is dangerous. Opioid tolerance decreases as a consequence of the withdrawal process. When someone uses same dose of pre-withdrawal heroin after detox, the risk of overdose is significantly raised.

Full-Time Heroin Rehab Treatment (Inpatient or Partial Hospitalization) – $7,000 to $23,475 for 28 days

After detox comes a 28- to 30-day episode of treatment. During this stage, you will meet one-on-one with a trained therapist. You will also participate in group therapy, neurofeedback, biofeedback, and other treatment modalities. These will help you uncover the cause of your addiction and give you the tools to better cope with difficulties.

Often, those addicted to heroin have an underlying mental disorder. If you have depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or another mental illness, it should be diagnosed and treated as well.

The aim of this (and all stages following detox) is to better equip you to live a healthy life that is free from addiction. It can be done in a lockdown facility (inpatient) or while living in a sober home (partial hospitalization).

The outpatient option is less expensive – by one half to a third. Studies have shown it is also equally effective.Inpatient/residential treatment costs an average of $23,475 for 28 days, according to MDSave.com. You can save more than half of that by opting for partial hospitalization treatment instead. Some cash pay prices can be as little as $7,000 which is one-third the cost of an inpatient program.

Part-Time Heroin Rehab Treatment (Intensive Outpatient) – $5,000 to $7,000 for four weeks

After you’ve spent a month in full-time treatment, you can step down to part-time. Intensive outpatient (IOP) involves three hours a day, five days a week of individual and group therapy.

The most effective heroin rehab care is long-term. That’s why the intensive outpatient step is so critical.

The great thing about IOP is that it allows you to rebuild your life – from finding employment to gaining a financial footing to getting to know a new group of sober friends – while still being supported in your sobriety.

As you gain strength, you can further step down to three times a week of IOP. Some heroin rehabs even offer nighttime hours for this stage of treatment as well.

Some choose to go straight from detox to intensive outpatient, skipping the month-long, full-time treatment phase altogether. This is a less expensive option that can work for some.

Estimates from several websites put the price tag for intensive outpatient at around $5,000 per month. Other estimates place the cost at $250 to $350 a day. For five-time-a-week IOP, that’s $5,000 to $7,000 for four weeks. Once you step down to three-day a week IOP, you can save $750 to $1,050 a week of that cost.

Outpatient Heroin Rehab Treatment – $500 to $1,000 a month

With outpatient treatment, you live where you wish and visit an addiction counselor for an hour, one to three times a week.

The main cost here is the addiction counselor’s time. And, according to Psychology Today, the hourly rate of a therapist is typically $100 to $200. With this range, one visit a week is $400 to $500 a month at the low end to $800 to $1,000 at the highest, depending on how many visits fall within a calendar month.(Psychology Today)

The longer, step-down model of care described above is the typical heroin drug rehab process. It has been shown to be effective because longer term treatment is better. Aftercare also helps to shore up early recovery gains.

Don’t let the estimated costs above keep you from getting help. The final cost depends on the other two factors: the type of treatment center you use and your insurance coverage.

The Facility You Choose

Some heroin addiction rehab centers cost more than others. A luxury heroin rehab center will cost much more than a no-frills one. Every added amenity a heroin rehab has, it has to pay for… and the revenue comes from the client (or their insurance company).

Just as with buying a home, you will also pay more for a better location. For example, a beachfront rehab will cost you more than one even slightly more inland. Why? The rent or mortgage, not to mention the insurance, the rehab has to pay is more expensive. That cost is passed on to clients.

The same thing occurs with a bigger facility versus a smaller one. The larger facility has to pay more for that space, more in staff salaries and more in maintenance and upkeep costs. Thus, the final cost to the client is larger than that of a smaller facility.

Since the same level of care will cost you something different everywhere you go, it’s best to shop around if insurance is not covering your heroin addiction rehab treatment.

Your Insurance Coverage

Heath care insurance can cover a large (or even all) of your heroin rehab treatment.If you have private insurance, you have more heroin rehab treatment choices available to you. If you have Medicare or Medicaid, however, you will need to find a heroin rehab that accepts it.

The fact is, though,  that many people struggling with heroin addiction don’t have health insurance. They may either not have jobs that provide health insurance or they have aged out of a parent’s plan. All hope is not lost, though, because you always have the option of paying cash for your heroin rehab treatment, no matter what your insurance situation is.

Just as with any other healthcare provider, you should ask about cash pay rates and payment plans. If you or a family member are in a position to pay over time, it can give you more places to consider for heroin rehab treatment.

If you do have insurance, ask the heroin rehab center for an insurance verification. This is free to you. The facility will run your insurance card to see how much it will cost you, bottom line, for treatment. This way, if there are deductibles or co-pays that you will be responsible for, you will know up-front.

Other Costs of Treatment

There are other, more incidental costs of heroin rehab to consider.

Medications

You can recover without assistance from medication. However, some people have such severe or protracted withdrawal symptoms that they need the extra help. Thankfully, in those cases, medications such as Subutex or Naltrexone that assist with heroin withdrawal are available. They do come at an extra cost.

Like heroin rehab, the medication can be fully covered with insurance, or you may have a deductible to meet or a co-pay to shell out.

If you are only on one of these medications long enough to get through withdrawal, with a slow, safe taper off afterward, it will cost much less than a maintenance program that has no foreseeable end.

The most commonly prescribed opioid withdrawal medications are:

• Buprenorphine (Subutex) – The retail price is $275 to $311 for 60 sublingual tablets of 8 milligrams each, according to GoodRx. With their coupon, it ranges from $17.95 to $123.11.
• Vivitrol (Naltrexone) – The retail price for one carton is $2,148 to $2,131 for one carton, according to GoodRx. With their coupon, it ranges from $1,420.38 to $1,483.27,
• Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) – The retail price is $83 to $123 for fourteen 8 mg/2 mg films, according to GoodRx. With their coupon, it ranges from $36.34 to $47.08. 

Another cost can be psychiatric medications. If you have an underlying disorder and are prescribed a medication to help with it, you are responsible for the prescription cost. Again, health insurance may cover all, some, or a part of that. If not, you will be paying out of pocket.

Some of the most commonly prescribed psychotropic drugs include:

• Zoloft (sertraline) – A selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) that treats depression, GoodRx reports the retail price of Zoloft’s generic version at $8 to $61 for 30-day supply of 100-milligram tablets. With their coupon, it ranges from $6.52 to $28.20. 
• Celexa (citalopram) – An SSRI that treats major depression, the generic version of Celexa has a retail price of $13 to $21 for a 30-day supply of 20-milligram tablets, according to GoodRx. With their coupon, it ranges from $4 to $19.00.
• Prozac (fluoxetine) – An SSRI used to treat depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and bulimia, the generic version of Prozac is priced at $13 to $30 for a 30-day supply of 20-milligram tablets, according to GoodRx. With their coupon, it ranges from $5.24 to $22. 
• Desyrel (trazodone HCL) – An SSRI that treats depression, anxiety depression-related insomnia, Desyrel’s generic version is priced at $12 to $23 for a 30-day supply of 50-milligram tablets, according to GoodRx. With their coupon, it ranges from $7.10 to $14.21. 
• Lexapro (escitalopram) – An SSRI approved to treat major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, Lexapro’s generic form retails for $13 to $149 for a 30-day supply of 10-milligram tablets, according to GoodRx. With their coupon, it ranges from $7.21 to $43.41. 
• Paxil (paroxetine) – Paxil is an SSRI used to treat a range of disorders, from major depressive disorder to posttraumatic stress disorder to generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder and more. Retail price for the generic version ranges from $13 to $36 for a 30-day supply of 20-milligram tablets, according to GoodRx. With their coupon, it ranges from $8.30 to $26.75.
• Wellbutrin (bupropion) – A norepinephrine-dopamine uptake inhibitor, Wellbutrin is used to treat major depressive disorder, seasonal affective disorder and helps people quit smoking as well. The  generic version retails for $24 to $30 for a 30-day supply of 75-milligram tablets, according to GoodRx. With their coupon, it ranges from $8.41 to $13.63. 

Rent

As you move from inpatient to outpatient treatment, you’ll pick up a few more costs, such as rent in a sober living facility. The good news is that rent in a sober living home is typically much less than it would be to rent a home, or even an apartment. The median sober home rent for the state of Florida is $221 a week, according to a 2019 cost study. (How Much Do Sober Living Homes Cost?, 2019)

Food

There’s also the cost of food, which is up to you. You can eat expensively or cheaply, depending on your appetite and taste. According to Intuit.com, a moderate grocery budget for one person runs a little over $45 per week, or $196 per month. (Mint Blog, 2021)

Most of these “other” expenses will remain constant in the real world. You’ll always have to pay for a place to live and to feed yourself… and for your psychiatric meds, should you need them.

I need heroin rehab treatment. How do I start?

It can feel daunting to figure out the maze of options available to you when seeking heroin rehab treatment.

It’s actually quite simple, though. All you need to do is reach out for help.

Calling a heroin rehab is easy, and you’ll typically find a friendly, understanding voice on the phone who, many times, have been where you are now. Speaking from experience, they are in a unique position to reassure you that you’ve made the right decision and that it’s not too late, you can get help.

Usually, heroin rehab center reps are very familiar with ways to reduce the cost of treatment and can give you practical advice. The can also walk you through the entire process of entering heroin rehab, so you won’t be left alone to figure everything out.

It starts with a call, and you can do it from anywhere, and any time… including right now.

RELATED: Inpatient vs. Outpatient Rehab: Which One is Right for You?
How to Get a Drug Addict Into Treatment
5 Things to Know Before Starting Suboxone Treatment
Overcoming Addiction: Is it Possible? Do you ever get over an addiction?

Sources

Buprenorphine Prices, Coupons & Savings Tips. GoodRx. (n.d.).

Citalopram Prices, Coupons & Savings Tips. GoodRx. (n.d.).

Desyrel Prices, Coupons & Savings Tips. GoodRx. (n.d.).

Fluoxetine Prices, Coupons & Savings Tips. GoodRx. (n.d.).

How much do sober living homes cost? (2019, August 14). TransitionsGateway.

How Much Your Monthly Food Budget Should Be + Grocery Calculator.(2021, April 21). MintLife Blog.

Lexapro Prices, Coupons & Savings Tips. GoodRx. (n.d.).

MDSave, (n.d.)

Paxil Prices, Coupons & Savings Tips. GoodRx. (n.d.).

Sertraline Prices, Coupons & Savings Tips. GoodRx. (n.d.).

Suboxone Film Prices, Coupons & Savings Tips. GoodRx. (n.d.).

Sussex Publishers. (n.d.). Cost and Insurance Coverage. Psychology Today.

U.S. National Library of Medicine. (1970, January 1). Withdrawal Management. Clinical Guidelines for Withdrawal Management and Treatment of Drug Dependence in Closed Settings. National Center for Biotechnology Information

Vivitrol Prices, Coupons & Savings Tips. GoodRx. (n.d.)

Wellbutrin Prices, Coupons & Savings Tips. GoodRx. (n.d.).