Using Assurant Health for Eating Disorder Treatment

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Assurant Health focuses on providing an array of affordable health insurance plans to clients throughout the country. Its line of health care products includes supplemental, major medical and fixed-benefit plans for families, individuals and small employers.

Assurant Health gives you access to easy-to-understand health care plans, convenient health care delivery and value-added services, allowing you to reap the most benefit from your coverage. You can rely on Assurant Health to help protect your financial security as well as your health and well-being. Below are some of the benefits offered by the company:

• Convenient access to health care
• Disease and care management services
• Access to third-party payment negotiation services and advocacies

If you are interested to become a member of Assurant Health, you may visit the company’s website at www.assuranthealth.com. Regardless of your coverage, if you are struggling with an eating disorder, please call our helpline at for information about how to find treatment.

Will Assurant Health Cover Eating Disorder Treatment?

Assurant Health offers its members a wide variety of health insurance plans, such as individual, small group, short-term and international individual plans among others. The network offers access to third-party services as well as other doctors and health care providers. As long as you are a member of Assurant Health, the company will do its best to connect you to a team of medical professions who can handle your case.

How Much Will Eating Disorder Treatment Cost?

Treatment for an eating disorder can be expensive, because care should be provided by a team of medical personnel, such as a physician, psychiatrist and nutritionist, on a weekly basis. According to The New York Times, an inpatient eating disorder treatment program costs $30,000 per month on average. Some patients require three or more months of continuous care within a residential facility to recover completely, and this is often supplemented by follow-up services for several years.

Assurant Health can only determine the actual cost of treatment after a medical counselor has carefully evaluated you. The good news is that if you are a member of this network, Assurant Health will do its best to fulfill your needs with its benefits plans. You can rest assured that these plans are not only priced reasonably to accommodate most budgets but also provide important benefits and help you get the care you need during this challenging time in your life. Assurant Health will give you access to doctors and other providers as well as to discount offerings.

It’s never too late to get help. If you have questions about what your insurance may cover or how to find help in treating eating disorder, call our helpline at . Our trained staff members are standing by to hear your concerns.

Inpatient Eating Disorder Treatment vs. Outpatient Services

With inpatient treatment, patients receive care around the clock and reside in a facility for a period of time. You will be closely supervised by a team of health care providers who will monitor your medical condition every step of the way. This type of care is more intensive and can help you focus on your psychological and physiological healing on a 24-hour basis. Everything you need is provided in one place.

This type of treatment is ideal for patients with advanced eating disorders for which psychiatric and medical stabilization is required. First, the treatment center staff will evaluate your case, and then you will be assigned a case manager. Your eating habits will be regulated and monitored constantly, and a treatment plan specific to your case will be created to ensure the success of your care. This might include psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, medication and nutritional counseling.

When you are deemed ready to live independently, you will be placed in residential care. This type of setting resembles a home, and you will be given the opportunity to practice the coping skills you have learned during your therapy sessions. Everything follows a plan, and clinicians will supervise you. This is essential to keep you on track with your recovery and to help you overcome the obstacles that might have led to your eating disorder in the first place.

Compared to inpatient care, outpatient eating disorder treatment is less restrictive. Your participation may be limited to seeing a therapist, a nutritionist and other medical professionals two to three times a week. This type of care may be a good choice for patients who need to continue performing their duties at school or work. It may also be a convenient option for clients who do not have enough insurance coverage to allow for inpatient treatment. Treatment methodologies usually include the following:

• Personalized nutrition consultation
• Individualized therapy
• Family support groups
• Topic-focused groups

Outpatient care is usually required after a patient completes treatment in an inpatient facility. After you have attained a high enough level of recovery that you have been given the leeway to live independently, you will be allowed to return to your home and perform your duties at work or school. However, you will continue to receive psychotherapy and support from the eating disorder facility handling you, as well as structured meals, ongoing study about coping techniques and relapse prevention planning.

If you have made the choice between inpatient eating disorder treatment vs. outpatient services, let us help. Let our friendly advisors at help you find the care you need.

Dual Diagnosis Eating Disorder Therapy

According to the National Institutes of Health, people with eating disorders have a 50 percent greater likelihood of having a drug or alcohol abuse problem compared to 9 percent of the general population. A dual diagnosis can best be treated in a residential facility with the expertise to handle substance abuse problems and eating disorders simultaneously. Substance abuse can worsen the symptoms of an eating disorder, so you need to undergo detox before the rest of your treatment can begin.

Inpatient treatment allows your medical personnel to see you all day so that any problem that might arise can be treated immediately. This is helpful for patients with eating problems, because the staff will be able to regulate when and what you eat and control the adverse effects connected to withdrawal symptoms.

When you have completed the detox process, you will begin therapy. At this stage, you will work closely with a therapist and may participate in group therapy, talk therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy trains you to respond better to anxiety or stress in various ways. Its purpose is to arm you with the strength you need to avoid improper eating habits.

Virtually all eating disorder rehab programs are geared toward helping you attain a healthy physical condition and weight. This can alleviate side effects related to your withdrawal symptoms, such as tiredness and dizziness. Medications may be administered to treat depression or anxiety.

If you are unsure whether you or a loved one has a dual diagnosis that requires immediate treatment, you can speak to one of our dedicated advisors at .

Insurance vs. Private Pay for Eating Disorder Options

Health insurance is critical to protect your health and wellness as well as your financial assets. If you require medical treatment, having health insurance means lower out-of-pocket expenses. Because each kind of insurance has its unique advantages and disadvantages, you need to figure out what policy is best for you.

Treatment for an eating disorder poses a unique challenge for both medical providers and patients. Typically, rehab can last for years, which can heavily affect your personal relationships as well as your family finances. According to the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, hospital visits as a result of eating disorders increased by 18 percent from 1999 to 2006.

The main challenge that patients face when dealing with eating disorders is that most insurance providers do not cover lengthy eating disorder treatment. In fact, some of them will deny sufficient coverage because they believe that a proven treatment method has not been found yet.

If you require treatment for an eating disorder, your first resource is your insurer, so you need to understand the full extent of your coverage and the potential obstacles for securing coverage for individualized care. If you have exhausted all your options in getting coverage from your insurer, consider private health treatment.

You can obtain private health care for any type of illness as long as you can pay for it. This care can include treatment by a general practitioner or medical specialist in a private hospital. Before you take the plunge into private health treatment, it’s important to consider the following:

• Can you afford it? The cost could be high.
• Can you handle unanticipated costs, such as having to stay longer in a hospital because you haven’t recovered from a procedure as quickly as anticipated?
• Can a private hospital take care of any complications that might show up during treatment? Can it provide intensive care, for instance?

Private health practitioners or hospitals set their own charges. When you enroll in a program and stay in a facility, you will be charged separately by your medical providers and by the facility. Treatment center charges will include meals, accommodations, laundry services, medications and examination fees. You can search online to find out what the potential charges could be, ask your practitioner directly ahead of time or call our helpline at for more information about Assurant Health eating disorder coverage.