When a teen has an eating disorder in Los Angeles, a parent or family member finds him or herself needing to find help. He, she or they want to take responsibility for ensuring their child is going to recover from this very serious issue. Not only is it usually up to the family to arrange for some form of care, they have to find the money to pay for it. With eating disorders, this can prove to be a heavy financial burden.
Basic Costs for Eating Disorders
If we lived in an ideal world, assess to facilities that handle eating disorders would be free or at least inexpensive. Treatment in places such as Los Angeles would not be a long and expensive endeavor. In the perfect world, it would not be hard to address the costs for the various types of treatments sought for a teen’s eating disorder including:
1. Medical
2. Psychological
3. Physical
4. Spiritual
While some teens with eating disorders may do well with at-home care, others may require a stay in a medical or residential facility receiving inpatient care. Others may require a combination of housing and treatment arrangements including both inpatient and outpatient care
Costs Associated with Inpatient Care
An inpatient is one who lives on the premises of the treatment facility. There is no set or established cost for treating clients as an inpatient. As a result, the costs will vary for inpatient care for treatment of eating disorders. It can be as low as $500 and as high as more than $2,000.
The cost of treatment as an inpatient all depends upon the location of the center, its reputation, the qualifications or status of its staff and other related factors. The form of treatment as well as the amenities also fall under consideration in the price tag. The type of residence, the amount of beds and the staff/patient ratio may also be factors in the cost associated with treating eating disorders in an inpatient facility.
Costs Associated with Outpatient Care
Outpatient costs can be as expensive as though associated with inpatient treatment of eating disorders. While the residential or inpatient treatment may be considered as all-inclusive, outpatient treatment may not. Specific types of therapy combine with medical monitoring can increase the costs. There are also the expense of the following:
1. Physician appointments
2. Laboratory work
3. Medications
4. More therapy
5. Alternative therapy sessions or complementary therapies
These continue to add up. The cost of a psychiatrist in Los Angeles, for example, may be around $200 per hourly visit.
Who Pays for Treatment of Eating Disorders
Fortunately, many health insurance companies are beginning to pay, at least partially, for treatment for eating disorders. If you do not have health insurance, or your provider does not cover this issue, talk to the treatment facility. Many truly caring centers are willing to work with parents to find a solution. Call on local resources to find other ways of obtaining help. Your child may even suggest a more recent development in raising funds for eating disorders – crowdsource funding.
At Adolescent Growth, a family-owned, California treatment facility, our mission is to excel in providing adolescents with excellent healthcare including treating handle Eating Disorders in Los Angeles. Our professional staff works hard as a team to restore the teenager as a responsible and healthy individual.