Paying for treatment
How Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance, TRICARE and the VA pay for addiction and mental health care, what to ask before you go, and what to do if you have no insurance.
Levels of care, explained
What detox, residential, day treatment (PHP), intensive outpatient (IOP) and outpatient care mean, with a short list of words you may hear.
How to raise it without a blowup
Calm, caring ways to start the conversation with someone you are worried about, and why research favors them over an ultimatum.
Twelve questions to ask a program
What to ask about coverage, staff, medications, family involvement and the plan after discharge, plus warning signs to watch for. Easy to print.
Medications for addiction, and naloxone
How medicines for opioid and alcohol use disorders work, how to use naloxone in an overdose, and why some drugs should never be stopped suddenly.
How we write these guides
- We base each guide on public health sources, such as SAMHSA, NIDA, NIAAA, the CDC, the FDA and Medicaid.gov, and we link to them.
- Each guide shows the date it was last reviewed.
- A review by a licensed clinician is still pending for every guide. Each guide says so at the top.
- The guides are general information, not medical advice. A program's own clinician decides what care fits a person.
If you see something wrong or unclear, please tell us.
If someone may be overdosing or is in danger, call 911. For a mental health or substance use crisis, call or text 988. See crisis help for more.