I can’t afford addiction treatment

 “I can’t afford addiction treatment.” Most often, when someone doesn’t have insurance they think treatment’s too expensive, so usually they don’t check into possibilities. Not all facilities will work out payment plans, but there are some, like NewDay, that will. For some reason, many people think addiction should be free, but we’re a private facility and we don’t receive state funds. There are facilities that receive state funds, and their cost for treatment is usually based on income so the person will likely pay something.

I’m not sure how treatment can be free. Someone has to pay for the services. Usually when a person searches for free services, they don’t really value the services. When a mechanic fixes a car, they get paid, and when someone does work on a house, they get paid – addiction treatment services are no different. Many people will make a payment each month on a big screen TV and sound system, but they won’t consider making monthly payments for treatment.

Actually, if a person is serious about quitting drugs, treatment is the best investment they’ll ever make. Drug addiction is expensive — there can be exorbitant legal costs, medical costs from accidents or overdoses or physical complications from using the drug, the cost of the alcohol or other drugs, the costly mental mistakes people make under the influence, divorces, loss of a job, etc. 

When a person recovers, they become more employable, they make better decisions, they don’t have drug related legal problems, they have more stable relationships, they make better financial decisions, and they begin to save money. It’s impossible to calculate the financial return of stopping using drugs and living clean and sober — it could add up to millions. The point is “I can’t afford addiction treatment” is delusional – the addict can’t afford to not get treatment.