Insurance/Finance Options

Very rarely will an insurance company pay for a teen program. They will usually pay for a short stay in the hospital. This is typically not very effective, however. If you want to see if your insurance company will pay, you need to determine if they are an HMO, or a PPO. If so they more than likely will not pay. If they are neither of the above, call them and ask if they will pay for a residential treatment center.

Some large companies are self insured and may be more liberal with these type of benefits. They usually have a benefits person on staff that you can talk to. A large company might be able to make allowances that a smaller company could not.

Even larger companies sometimes cannot help as they have their psychiatric benefits underwritten by another company. The only hope is usually through a substance abuse (addiction) benefit, or a psychiatric benefit. Sometimes if the teen has suicidal tendencies coverage might be available.

It is becoming quite rare that an insurance company will help fund a defiant teen program. Some parents have pushed and pushed their insurance company until they have gotten some relief; others have pushed and pushed only to be declined. The best advice here is don't plan on receiving any insurance reimbursement, but don't give up trying to get them to participate in the cost of your child's program.

Free List of Funding Options

Here is a list of financial organizations that will loan money for specialty schools. Each has their own list of criteria that will need to be met to secure a loan.

Sallie Mae is an education loan. Visit them online at www.slmfinancial.com or call them at 800 559 353 4283

Key Bank has an education loan called an achiever loan. Visit them at www.key.com/educate or call them at 800 539 5363

First Marble Head Prepgate loan. Visit them at www.prepgate.com or call them directly at 888 353 4283

Teri Loans. You can visit them at www.teri.org or call them at 800 255 8374.

These are some of the more popular lending institutions. There are others we can give if you would like to Contact Us for more information.