Expert Insights
In 2019, Pennsylvania launched a program called the Opioid Hospital Quality Improvement Program. It offers state funding incentives to hospitals willing to have emergency room doctors incorporate medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine when high-risk patients face the possibility of overdosing after discharge. I wasn’t sure how I felt about a state paying ER doctors to prescribe Suboxone to at-risk patients, but the results are undeniable.
Turns out the monetary incentives were associated with a 50% increase in prescriptions for buprenorphine (sold under the brand name Suboxone) state-wide for patients within 30 days of being discharged from ER’s across Pennsylvania. As a result of this program, the state’s monetary incentive program for Medicaid patients struggling with opioid addiction could actually be a great model for other states to follow if they want to save lives.
~ Olivia Pennelle
How Much Does Drug Rehab Cost in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania is ranked 26th nationwide in terms of addiction treatment affordability, with an average cost of drug and alcohol rehab of $56,708 (without insurance).
- Medical detox is the most expensive, with an average cost of $139,806
- Long-term inpatient drug rehab in Pennsylvania costs an average of $50,041
- Outpatient addiction treatment in Pennsylvania costs an average of $8,315
- Outpatient methadone treatment is the most affordable, with an average cost of $7,388
How to Pay for Drug Rehab in Pennsylvania
As of 2024, there were over 640 drug rehab facilities across the state of Pennsylvania. These facilities accept several payment methods. Of those treatment facilities, the following numbers reflect how many accept their respective payment methods:
555 accept self-payment or cash
287 offer sliding-scale fees for those without insurance
513 accept Medicaid insurance coverage
313 accept state funded insurance coverage
453 accept private health insurance
213 offer free or low-cost treatment
5 offer free treatment for all clients
5 accept tribal funding
Pennsylvania Alcohol and Drug Use Statistics
In 2019, roughly 316,000 people in Pennsylvania were known to have a drug use disorder.1
Approximately every 2 hours, someone in the state of Pennsylvania dies from a drug overdose.1
Chronic alcohol consumption among Pennsylvania adults is at its highest rate since 2011.2
On a single day in March 2019, 66,969 people in the state were enrolled in a treatment program.
In 2019, a total of 23,351 residents received methadone in an outpatient treatment program.
Resources
- Pennsylvania Office of Drug Surveillance and Misuse Prevention. (2022). Pennsylvania ODSMP – Drug Overdose Surveillance Interactive Data Report.
- Pennsylvania Department of Health. (2020). Alcohol Consumption, Pennsylvania Adults.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2020). Behavioral Health Barometer: Pennsylvania, Volume 6: Indicators as measured through the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Publication No. SMA–20–Baro–19–PA. Rockville, MD.
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2018). Comorbidity: Substance Use and Other Mental Disorders. National Institutes of Health. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- Mohamed, I. I., Ahmad, H. E. K., Hassaan, S. H., & Hassan, S. M. (2020). Assessment of anxiety and depression among substance use disorder patients: a case-control study. Middle East Current Psychiatry, 27(22).
- Vahratian, A., Blumberg, S. J., Terlizzi, E. P., & Schiller, J. S. (2021). Symptoms of Anxiety or Depressive Disorder and Use of Mental Health Care Among Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, August 2020–February 2021. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70(13), 490–494.
- Smith, J. P., & Book, S. W. (2008). Anxiety and Substance Use Disorders: A Review. The Psychiatric Times, 25(10), 19–23.
- National Center for PTSD. (2022). PTSD: National Center for PTSD, Substance Abuse. U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
- National Center for PTSD. (2022). PTSD and Substance Abuse in Veterans. U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2016). An Introduction to Bipolar Disorder and Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders. Advisory, 15(2).
- Parmar, A., & Kaloiya, G. (2018). Comorbidity of Personality Disorder among Substance Use Disorder Patients: A Narrative Review. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 40(6), 517–527.
- Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. (2020). Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Family Therapy. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 39. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US).
- Ten Thousand Beds, Inc. (2021). How to Apply for a Scholarship.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2021). Fiscal Year 2022 Grant Announcements and Awards.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022). Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant.
