Will My Insurance Cover a Teen Boarding School?
If your insurance company provides cover for medical needs including treatment for depression or other mental health conditions, they may be able to fund your teenagers' stay at camp. Part of the reason that they specify residential treatment programs as meeting the criteria is to avoid parents using medical insurance to fund summer camps that are essentially vacations!
It may seem like semantics but there are people who abuse the insurance system which makes it harder for those with genuine needs. Some insurance companies will only pay for outpatient treatment, not residential so you may have to negotiate to see if they will make part payment.
Most therapeutic and residential teen camps, including a number of teen boot camps, are well versed in the insurance criteria and will be able to help you write your application for funding. If your child has been diagnosed as having a special need then the psychologist or medical practitioner who made the diagnosis will be able to confirm this in writing.
The key terminology that is relevant is the notion of your teenager receiving some sort of treatment at the camp, and this treatment needs to be of recognized value and appropriate to the teens medical condition.
In order to help with any insurance application you should consider having the following evidence;
- Confirmation of your teenagers' special need from a medical practitioner or licensed psychiatrist or psychologist
- Evidence of treatment and medical support your teenager is currently receiving
- Evidence of any medication your teen is receiving
- Qualifications of therapists and medical personnel at the teen camp you are applying for
- Evidence of the nature of the program that the teen camp is offering your teenager
- Check whether your insurance company has a list of preferred providers for residential or outpatient treatment for your teen
If your teen has been in trouble with the law, some judges will require treatment as part of the sentencing package, accepting private insurance covered treatment as well as offering state funded treatment. If you do not have insurance cover for the treatment you have chosen for your teenager, the majority of centers have alternative financing options, which are covered in another article, "What are the finance options for teen treatment camps".
The important point for you to consider here, is what kind of treatment is most suitable for your teenager? Money is a criterion, but you should be suspicious of centers that seem to be cheap, the treatment your teen receives may be less than valuable if the prices are ridiculously low!