Questions families ask us.

Rehab is a common shorthand for six clinically distinct levels of addiction treatment — from brief outpatient visits through medically managed hospital stays. The right level depends on withdrawal risk, co-occurring conditions, support at home, and practical constraints. Most people do not need residential treatment; most do better with intensive outpatient or a combination of outpatient therapy and medication-assisted treatment. See our programs guide for how clinicians match patients to the right level.

Under the 2008 Mental Health Parity Act and the 2024 federal enforcement rule, every major insurer must cover medically necessary substance-use treatment on terms comparable to medical-surgical care. In practice, what you will pay depends on your specific plan's deductible, coinsurance, and in-network provider list. Our coverage guide walks through the ten largest insurers, including appeal strategies when a claim is denied.

Wildly variable. A Medicaid patient may pay $0 for a 30-day residential stay; a self-pay patient may pay $38,000 at the same facility. In between, commercial insurance typically leaves patients responsible for deductible plus coinsurance up to an out-of-pocket maximum. Use our cost estimator for a ballpark based on your program type and insurance.

No. Most people with substance use disorder recover through outpatient care — intensive outpatient programs (IOP), medication-assisted treatment (MAT), or regular therapy. Residential is for people with dangerous withdrawal risk, severe co-occurring mental-health conditions, or home environments that make outpatient recovery unsafe. If a clinician recommends residential, it is usually because one of those three is true.

Medication-assisted treatment combines FDA-approved medications (buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone) with counseling for opioid or alcohol use disorder. For opioid use disorder specifically, MAT cuts the risk of fatal overdose by roughly half and is considered the current standard of care by SAMHSA, NIDA, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Programs that refuse to allow MAT are working against the evidence base.

Acute detox is typically 3–7 days. Residential is typically 28–90 days. Intensive outpatient runs 8–12 weeks. Outpatient therapy often continues for months or years. Medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder often continues indefinitely — and clinically that is a legitimate outcome, not a failure. The idea that a person has to “complete” treatment by a specific date is a marketing construct; recovery is chronic.

The research is fairly consistent: a single dramatic intervention is among the least predictive of someone entering treatment. What works better is a sustained pattern of low-intensity, honest, specific conversations over time. Our guide on having the conversation walks through what to say and what to avoid. Peer support for family members — Al-Anon, CRAFT — is also meaningfully helpful.

Every facility in our directory is sourced from the federal SAMHSA Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, which means the center is registered with the federal government as a licensed treatment provider. Listing is not an endorsement of clinical quality or business practices. For a specific facility we recommend verifying its state license (most state behavioral-health regulators publish inspection reports) and asking directly about its clinical framework — specifically whether it offers MAT for opioid use disorder.

The number on this site connects to licensed admissions staff at a treatment-network partner. They will ask questions to understand your situation — type of substance, insurance, geography, level of need — and discuss options. Calls are free, confidential, and subject to 42 CFR Part 2, the federal privacy rule for addiction-treatment records. There is no pressure to enroll. You can also call the federal SAMHSA helpline (1-800-662-HELP) as an alternative; they are operated by the government rather than a private partner.

We are an independent editorial team, not a treatment provider. We do not own facilities, do not refer people to specific centers for payment, and do not accept payment for editorial coverage. We do operate affiliate relationships with licensed admissions networks, which pay us when a helpline caller connects to a partner. Those relationships fund the site but do not influence directory ranking or editorial content. See our editorial policy for full disclosure.