Alcohol & Drug Rehabs in Montgomery, Alabama

Multiple factors contribute to the cost of drug and alcohol rehab in Montgomery, such as what type of facility you want to use, whether you have health insurance coverage, and what the cost of living is in the area you’re looking to attend treatment.

Many ways exist to raise funds for treatment, such as crowdfunding, taking out a loan, or asking friends or family for help. If those options don’t work, you can look for Montgomery drug rehabs and programs that offer services to those without the resources to pay for care.

In Alabama, there is a wide range of addiction treatment services offered by organizations partnering with the state, including medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinics, residential and outpatient rehabs, and services for adults, adolescents, women, and people with a dual diagnosis of mental health disorder and substance use disorder (SUD).

These programs operate across the state, made to help people who are low-income and struggling with finding services to treat their addiction. You can find these programs by contacting the Alabama Department of Health or calling 211 for immediate assistance finding local state-funded rehabs.

Yes, insurance companies must pay for medically-necessary services, including those to treat behavioral health issues like substance use disorder (SUD). This is largely due to regulation from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act that named SUD as a behavioral health disorder requiring treatment.

Medicaid

Medicaid is a program available to people whose income meets or is below federal poverty standards that provide needed health insurance coverage. If you live in a home with small children or are a pregnant woman, you may also qualify for Medicaid if your income is at 133% of federal poverty standards.3 This coverage includes services to treat SUD, such as therapy and evidence-based treatments. Many rehabs accept Medicaid, with SAMHSA reporting three within 15 miles of the Montgomery city center, with 2 in the southeast part of town.⁴

Medicare

Medicare is a government-sponsored health insurance program for people over the age of 65 and/or who have a disability. This program has several parts that pay for various services, including inpatient rehab, therapy, and medication. Unlike Medicaid, Medicare has deductibles and copayments you would need to pay for services rendered. Reach out to a Medicare advocate for more details on what you could qualify for and to apply for.

Private Insurance

Private health insurance, such as the kind you get through your employer, pays for medically necessary services, including substance use disorder treatment. However, every policy has different fees, policies, and in-network providers. To find out the exact details of your health insurance coverage, including your copayments and covered services, call the number on the back of your insurance card.

Alabama has had an increasing rate of drug-related crime, overdoses, and admissions to the ER. Recent community health information from the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council and the CDC data shows:^1,2

Drug-induced deaths rose 30% in Montgomery County between 2018 and 2020

Montgomery County had a drug overdose death rate of 59.7 in 2020.

Montgomery County has the lowest overdose rate of all counties in Alabama.

In 2020, Alabama saw a 20% jump in its overdose rates.

The state of Alabama is home to myriad organizations to battle drug-related overdoses and crime and has taken steps to enable citizens and emergency responders to join in the fight.

Compact to Fight Opioid Addiction Initiative: In cooperation with 45 other governors, including those of Guam and Puerto Rico, Alabama, on July 13, 2016, created a series of policies to stop opiate misuse.12 These policies include stricter prescription regulations, providing drug education to communities across the nation, and creating routes to recovery for people struggling with addiction, such as funding rehab scholarship programs.

HB208 Naloxone Dispensing Initiative: In order to enable community members to help each other when witnessing or experiencing an overdose, the state enacted HB208. This law allows doctors and pharmacists to prescribe naloxone to anyone related to a person addicted to opiates or prescribed opiate medication to be dispensed in the event of an overdose.¹³

Pharmacists are required to provide basic administration education, and the law sets aside extra training for law enforcement officials as to how to administer naloxone. This law was amended with HB379 the following year to add registered nurses and firefighters to the list of approved individuals to be supplied with and administer naloxone.¹⁴

Inpatient and outpatient rehabs have many similarities as well as differences. The similarities lie in the types of evidence-based treatments provided, such as counseling and medication-assisted treatment (MAT). What separates these types of programs is the length of time spent per day in care essentially. Inpatient, or residential care, requires clients to stay in the facility 24/7 for the duration of their stay, which can last for a month or longer.⁵

Depending on how severe your addiction is, you may also be required to go through a medical detox, which is the clearing of drugs and alcohol from your body. A team of medical professionals will help keep you safe and comfortable while managing your withdrawal symptoms.

Outpatient programs are offered in a clinical setting where patients use treatment at the office for several hours a day, whether it’s counseling, group therapy, or medication administration. Standard outpatient programs (SOPs) only ask you to visit the clinic once per week, with a monthly phone call with your addiction support and therapy team.

More stringent outpatient programs include IOPs (intensive outpatient programs) and PHPs (partial hospitalization programs) requiring more visits per week, with PHPs providing daily services and IOPs requiring nine days of therapy per week minimum.⁵ In addition to the required therapy appointments, outpatient programs recommend participation in community support and offer referrals to appropriate meetings for an added layer of encouragement to remain sober.

Depending on your personal preferences and background, you might have a better time at specialty rehabs and detox centers in Montgomery designed for people similar to you. These can be rehabs that only accept a specific gender, those with therapy and support groups specifically for those in the LGBTQ+ community, or those for veterans and current service members that need trauma-focused therapies.

Holistic

Holistic rehabs tend to feature more alternative treatments, such as acupuncture, animal therapy involving horses, dogs, or cats, and art therapy utilizing various mediums. These facilities tend to feature a serene environment and involve meditation in their treatment programs.

Faith-Based and Christian

A Christian, Baptist, Jewish, or another faith-based rehab can be a great option for those that have a strong spiritual foundation. Such programs include prayer, religious symbolism, and traditional ceremonies to facilitate more holistic healing.

Luxury

When you want fewer daily worries and a higher level of comfort and convenience, look for a luxury drug or alcohol rehab in Alabama. These addiction treatment centers tend to offer more high-end amenities such as spas and salons on-site, alternative therapies like equine therapy, and roomy suites with lovely views of nearby natural attractions.

Executive

For those in law enforcement, teachers, doctors, and other professionals, executive rehabs offer a higher focus on privacy and confidentiality, understanding your need to protect your reputation and career. These facilities might also offer more VIP amenities, such as a masseuse on staff in the on-campus spa and state-of-the-art technology to treat addiction.

Dual Diagnosis

Dual-diagnosis rehab centers are made to help people that have co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. Whereas a person might be turned away in the past for having a dual diagnosis, we now have rehabs that staff mental health professional therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists capable of managing medications, symptoms, and therapies across both disorders concurrently.

MAT, or medication-assisted treatment, uses a comprehensive individualized plan that includes both addiction medication and therapy for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and opiate use disorder (OUD).⁶ This treatment can radically enhance your rehabilitation success, lowering relapse rates and improving your overall quality of life as you go through recovery. MAT can be beneficial if you need more help than just counseling to succeed at recovery and can expedite the process. Other benefits include:⁶

• Higher rate of job retention
• Longer times spent adhering to programs and higher graduation rates
• Healthier pregnancies and better outcomes for babies born to women with addiction

Some medications are intended to relieve withdrawal symptoms and reduce the urges for opiates by binding to opiate receptors and giving your body enough of a dose of opiate-based medications to dampen withdrawal. Other medications block receptors from being activated, preventing any euphoric effects or sedation in the event of a relapse or causing the body to react negatively if a drug or alcohol is consumed.

Methadone: If you have a severe opiate dependency, look for a drug rehab in Montgomery that offers OUD treatment with methadone to reduce your urges to use opiates, as well as withdrawal symptoms.⁷ This medication is a full-on opiate agonist and does have some side effects, including feelings of euphoria and sedation, and can only be prescribed by certified MAT providers at a methadone clinic.

Suboxone: Suboxone is a partial opioid agonist that works by activating opiate receptors and reducing cravings and withdrawal symptoms for those with OUD.⁸ It works similarly to methadone but with lower levels of side effects such as sedation. Of the many benefits of using suboxone sublingual films or other forms of buprenorphine is the lowered risk of death by relapse if a user does return to illicit drugs after using suboxone. Being an opiate-based medication, suboxone is heavily regulated and can only be prescribed by a certified OUD treatment provider.

Naltrexone: Approved by the FDA to treat both AUD and SUD, Naltrexone works by blocking the activations of receptors in your brain that create feelings of euphoria, sedation, and pleasurable symptoms that lead a person to use opiates and alcohol.⁹ This medication is rated for long-term use and is available as a pill for daily home use for AUD or as an extended-release injection for either OUD or AUD.

Antabuse (Disulfiram): Antabuse is FDA-approved to fight alcohol use disorder (AUD) and works by blocking your body’s ability to break down alcohol.¹⁰ This means that if you drink alcohol while on this medication, you would face a series of uncomfortable symptoms such as gastric upset and body pain.

Acamprosate: Acamprosate is a daily medication that works to relieve your urges to drink alcohol.¹¹ It doesn’t affect withdrawal symptoms, and if you relapse while taking this medication, you should continue to take it as prescribed, but call your addiction treatment provider for further advice. Acamprosate can cause kidney issues, so it might not be appropriate for you for long-term use or at all if you have existing kidney problems. Speak with a Montgomery alcohol rehab counselor to find a certified AUD medication provider.

If you love a rural neighborhood with plenty of trees and outdoor adventures to be had, then Montgomery might be the perfect spot for you.

When moving to Montgomery, look for a neighborhood to live in that appeals to your interests (and price point). The central portion of the city, including the Garden District and Capitol Heights, features Alabama State University, as well as Baptist Medical Health Center. There’s also a range of other convenient locations like shopping and dining.

Museum lovers might enjoy the east side of town like Green Acres, home to the Montgomery Museum of Art, as well as large shopping centers like Costcos. This is also a great area from which to enjoy that natural beauty, with several nearby parks and walking trails.

The northwest part of the town lies on the edge of the Alabama River, across from Gun Island. This area is home to the Maxwell Air Force Base Historic Air Park, as well as the civil rights-focused Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice.

1. FindTreatment.gov. (n.d.). FindTreatment.gov. 
2. Center for Disease Control. (2022). CDCWonder.
3. Alabama Department of Mental Health. (April 21, 2021). Press Release: OPIOID OVERDOSE DEATHS INCREASE IN 2020.
4. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2022). Eligibility.
5. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. (2022). Treatment Locator.
6. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. Substance Abuse: Clinical Issues in Intensive Outpatient Treatment. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); (2006). Chapter 3. Intensive Outpatient Treatment and the Continuum of Care.
7. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022). Medication-Assisted Treatment.
8. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022). Methadone.
9. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022). Buprenorphine.
10. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022). Naltrexone.
11. National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2022). Antabuse.
12. National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2022). Acamprosate.
13. Alabama Office of Inspector General. (November 2019). FACTSHEET: Alabama’s Oversight of Opioid Prescribing and Monitoring of Opioid Use.
14. Alabama Department of Public Health. (March 10, 2015). HB208.
15. Alabama Department of Public Health. (March 8, 2016). HB379.