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Part 1 of 7: Understanding Medical Necessity Criteria in Addiction Treatment (Introduction)

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Part 1 of 6: Understanding Medical Necessity Criteria in Addiction Treatment (Introduction)

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Blog Series: Navigating Medical Necessity Criteria for Addiction Treatment by Insurer

Medical necessity is the golden key that unlocks insurance coverage for addiction treatment. In simple terms, a service is “medically necessary” if an insurer agrees that it is reasonable, appropriate, and essential for the patient’s health. For substance use disorders (SUD), this determination can make or break whether treatments like detox, rehab, or therapy get paid for by the insurer. This introductory post will demystify medical necessity criteria for addiction treatment – what they are, why they matter, and how major insurers apply them – setting the stage for our deep-dive series into each major U.S. health payer’s policies.

  1. Understanding Medical Necessity Criteria in Addiction Treatment (Introduction) – Explains what “medical necessity” means for addiction treatment services, why it’s crucial for insurance coverage, and how national standards (like ASAM criteria) and laws (parity regulations) shape these requirements. Introduces the series and what to expect in insurer-specific deep-dives.

  2. UnitedHealth Group – Meeting UHG’s Criteria for Addiction Treatment Coverage – A close look at UnitedHealthcare/Optum’s medical necessity guidelines for substance use disorder services. Discusses use of ASAM Criteria, prior authorization steps, and key billing codes/providers’ tips for smooth approvals.

  3. CVS Health (Aetna) – Aetna’s Medical Necessity Criteria for Rehab Services – Explores Aetna’s approach to covering addiction treatment. Highlights Aetna’s use of MCG™ and ASAM Criteria in determining medical necessity (Utilization Management | Aetna), what documentation is needed for approval, which CPT/HCPCS codes (IOP, residential, etc.) require prior auth, and how providers can ensure compliance.

  4. Cigna (Evernorth) – Ensuring Medical Necessity for Addiction Treatment – Details Cigna’s medical necessity framework via Evernorth Behavioral Health. Discusses Cigna’s adoption of the latest ASAM Criteria for substance use levels of care (providernewsroom.com), any age-specific criteria differences, prior authorization requirements, and key billing considerations when working with Cigna plans.

  5. Kaiser Permanente – Inside Kaiser’s Criteria for Addiction Treatment Coverage – Reviews Kaiser Permanente’s standards for approving SUD treatment, including their use of ASAM Criteria for inpatient, residential, and detox services (Substance Use Disorder Treatment | Clinical Review Criteria). Explains Kaiser’s approach to prior authorization (and when it’s needed or waived), common billing codes under Kaiser plans, and tips given their integrated care model.

  6. Health Care Service Corporation (Blue Cross IL/TX and more) – HCSC’s SUD Treatment Coverage Criteria – Examines HCSC’s medical policies for addiction treatment across its Blue Cross Blue Shield plans (Illinois, Texas, etc.). Notes state parity laws requiring ASAM Criteria in IL and TX   and how those influence HCSC’s approvals. Outlines prior auth needs for detox, residential, IOP, and important billing codes in these plans.

  7. Elevance Health (Anthem Blue Cross) – Navigating Anthem’s SUD Medical Necessity Guidelines – Breaks down how Elevance (formerly Anthem) evaluates addiction treatment claims. Covers their utilization management policies (MCG guidelines and ASAM where mandated ), state-specific requirements, prior authorization processes, and important billing codes for various levels of care.

Why Medical Necessity Criteria Matter for SUD Treatment Coverage

Insurance companies use medical necessity criteria as a gatekeeper to decide which addiction treatments they will cover. These criteria are detailed guidelines or checklists grounded in “generally accepted standards of care” () for treating addiction. In theory, if a patient meets the criteria – for example, severe alcohol withdrawal risk requiring medically supervised detox – the treatment should be deemed medically necessary and thus covered. If they don’t meet the criteria, coverage can be denied as “not medically necessary.”

Because of how critical this is, federal law requires parity between mental health/addiction benefits and medical benefits. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) says insurers can’t impose stricter limitations on SUD treatment than they do for other medical/surgical care. This includes nonquantitative limits like medical necessity definitions and prior authorization rules (Mental Health Parity at a Crossroads | KFF). In short, if an inpatient rehab stay is as justified for a heroin addiction as, say, an inpatient stay for a heart condition, insurance must cover the addiction treatment comparably. The parity law also requires insurers to disclose their medical necessity criteria to patients and providers upon request ().

Despite parity laws, coverage hurdles persist. Many insurers historically used in-house guidelines that were more restrictive than common medical standards, making it hard for patients to get adequate care (). A spotlight case was Wit v. United Behavioral Health (UBH), where a federal court found UBH’s internal criteria for substance abuse and mental health were too restrictive and not consistent with accepted standards () (). UBH was ordered to start using established, evidence-based criteria (like ASAM guidelines) for tens of thousands of reprocessed claims (). This case and numerous state parity enforcement actions sent a clear message: insurers must use criteria rooted in real clinical standards, not just cost-cutting () ().

What does this mean for treatment providers? You need to understand the criteria your patient’s insurance uses. If you can align your documentation and treatment plan with those medical necessity criteria, you greatly increase the chance of authorization and payment for services. Failing to meet an insurer’s specific benchmarks is one of the most common reasons for denial of addiction treatment claims.

Who Defines “Medically Necessary” for Addiction Treatment?

From a provider’s perspective, of course your patient needs the recommended treatment – why else would you prescribe it? But in the insurance world, “medically necessary” has a precise definition that can vary slightly by payer. Generally, medically necessary addiction treatment:

These points are pretty universal. For instance, UnitedHealth Group’s definition echoes that a service is needed for effective treatment, appropriate to the condition, and not for convenience (How to Determine the Medical Necessity of Addiction Treatment Services for UnitedHealth Group, Inc). The gray area comes in how insurers interpret things like “generally accepted standard” or “clinically appropriate.” That’s where specific criteria sets come into play.

The ASAM Criteria and Other Guidelines

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Criteria has become the most widely accepted standard for determining appropriate care for addiction treatment (providernewsroom.com) (Substance Use Disorder Treatment | Clinical Review Criteria). It’s a comprehensive framework evaluating patients across six dimensions (acute withdrawal risk, biomedical conditions, emotional/behavioral conditions, readiness to change, relapse risk, and recovery environment) to recommend the proper level of care (from outpatient counseling to intensive inpatient rehab) (LA_PROV_FINAL_131501LA1222-C_ASAMCriteria) (LA_PROV_FINAL_131501LA1222-C_ASAMCriteria). Many state laws actually mandate that insurers use ASAM’s placement criteria for SUD treatment decisions () (). As a result, most major insurers have adopted ASAM Criteria for SUD in some capacity:

  • Optum/UnitedHealthcare now uses the ASAM Criteria as the clinical standard for substance-related disorders (Clinical Criteria and Guidelines). (Optum also uses LOCUS/CALOCUS for mental health, similarly ensuring generally accepted tools guide care (Clinical Criteria and Guidelines).)

  • Cigna/Evernorth uses ASAM Criteria nationally for substance use reviews – they transitioned from ASAM 3rd Edition to the new 4th Edition for adults in late 2024 (providernewsroom.com).

  • Aetna (CVS Health) explicitly lists the ASAM Criteria (3rd Ed.) among the guidelines it uses for coverage decisions (Utilization Management | Aetna), alongside MCG™ criteria.

  • Anthem Blue Cross (Elevance) uses MCG (formerly Milliman Care Guidelines) for most behavioral health reviews but defers to ASAM for substance abuse treatment when required by state law (). Many Anthem plans in states like California, New York, and Texas are thus using ASAM due to those mandates ().

  • Humana and Molina Healthcare also utilize ASAM-aligned criteria especially in their Medicaid plans, as many state Medicaid agencies require it (OH.CLI.1383 Medical Necessity Guidelines) ().

  • Regional Blue Cross plans (GuideWell Florida Blue, Highmark, Independence, CareFirst, etc.) have likewise moved toward ASAM if their state mandates it (e.g., North Carolina, Maryland, Illinois, West Virginia all require commercial plans to use ASAM ()). Even when not mandated, ASAM is often the de facto guideline because it’s considered the gold standard in addiction medicine.

It’s important to note that aside from ASAM, MCG Behavioral Health Criteria and InterQual® Criteria are two other common utilization review tools plans use for medical necessity. MCG and InterQual publish proprietary guidelines for various levels of care. Some insurers use specialized versions of these that incorporate ASAM or other SUD-specific norms. For example, Centene plans in several states use an InterQual tool that integrates ASAM dimensions to evaluate SUD treatment needs ( Effective 10/31/24: Behavioral Health – Substance Use Disorder Treatment Criteria ). In any case, the trend is that insurers are converging on a set of standardized criteria rather than opaque in-house rules – a win for transparency and consistency in addiction care () ().

Prior Authorization: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Having criteria on paper is one thing; applying them is another. Prior authorization (PA) is the process where those medical necessity criteria get applied to approve or deny coverage before the treatment is delivered. In addiction treatment, prior authorization is commonly required for higher levels of care:

  • Inpatient detoxification

  • Residential rehabilitation programs

  • Partial hospitalization programs (PHP)

  • Intensive outpatient programs (IOP), depending on the plan

Failing to obtain a required PA is almost always a cause for denial – even if the treatment was appropriate. For instance, UnitedHealthcare warns providers that not getting prior authorization can lead to automatic denial of the claim, regardless of medical necessity (How to Determine the Medical Necessity of Addiction Treatment Services for UnitedHealth Group, Inc). UnitedHealthcare advises allowing about 5 business days before starting services to get their PA review done and receive a decision letter (How to Determine the Medical Necessity of Addiction Treatment Services for UnitedHealth Group, Inc). In that letter, you’ll either get a green light to proceed or a denial with reasons and appeal rights.

Other insurers have similar protocols:

  • Anthem/Elevance typically requires pre-certification for detox, residential, and PHP/IOP admissions. They use MCG/ASAM criteria during these reviews and, by policy, will involve a physician reviewer if criteria aren’t clearly met ().

  • Cigna/Evernorth conducts medical necessity reviews (often via phone or their portal) for SUD services using ASAM. They note that their adoption of ASAM doesn’t change the process – providers still request auth the same way, but decisions are now based on that standard (providernewsroom.com).

  • Kaiser Permanente generally requires prior authorization for any inpatient or residential addiction care. In Kaiser’s Washington region, for example, outpatient counseling and methadone maintenance might not require PA, but anything involving rehab admissions does, using ASAM criteria to evaluate the request (Substance Use Disorder Treatment | Clinical Review Criteria) (Substance Use Disorder Treatment | Clinical Review Criteria).

  • Medicaid plans (Centene, Molina, etc.) often mirror their state rules: some states require even outpatient SUD services to be authorized, while others have “notification only” for certain levels. It’s crucial to check each plan’s provider manual or PA list.

Bottom line: Always verify if prior authorization is needed for the level of care you’re providing and obtain it ahead of time. Many treatment centers integrate this into their intake process as part of a Verification of Benefits (VOB) – checking the patient’s SUD coverage and securing any needed PA before admission. (If you need a refresher on running a VOB, see our guide on Verification of Benefits – a crucial first step before treatment begins.)

During the PA review, insurers will ask you to submit clinical information: typically an assessment or intake notes, diagnosis, treatment plan, and sometimes an ASAM placement worksheet. They are matching this info against their criteria checklist. For example, if you request inpatient rehab, you’ll need to show why a less intensive setting isn’t safe or sufficient (perhaps the patient has severe withdrawal risks or failed outpatient treatment already). If the criteria are met, authorization is granted, usually for an initial period (say, 7 days of residential treatment) after which you may need to update the insurer on progress (through utilization review) to get additional days approved.

Pro Tip: Document everything and use the language of the criteria. If ASAM Dimension 5 (relapse potential) is high, spell that out with specifics (“Patient has had multiple relapses even in intensive outpatient; demonstrates inability to maintain sobriety outside a 24-hour structure, indicating need for residential level of care”). When you speak the insurer’s language, you make their job easier to say “yes, this meets our guidelines.” It can be helpful to keep handy the exact wording of the insurer’s criteria (many publish provider manuals or policy bulletins with the details – or will fax them if you ask, as required by parity regulations).

Key Billing Codes and Authorization Triggers in Addiction Treatment

Alongside clinical criteria, the billing codes you use must align with the level of care and service provided – and certain codes will instantly raise the question of medical necessity and prior auth. In other words, if you bill a code for inpatient rehab, the insurer will check if you had an approval on file for it. Being familiar with these codes is important for both billing and understanding what services insurers consider significant. Here are some common codes (HCPCS/CPT) for addiction treatment levels of care:

Each insurer in our series may have specific lists of which codes require authorization. For example, UnitedHealthcare’s commercial plans list essentially all inpatient, residential, and intensive services codes (H0010-H0019, etc., or revenue code equivalents) as requiring prior authorization (Commercial Prior Authorization Codes) (Commercial Prior Authorization Codes), whereas basic outpatient therapy codes aren’t on that list. Always consult the latest provider authorization grid for the plan you’re dealing with.

It’s also worth noting that billing code alone doesn’t prove medical necessity, but it must match the authorized service. If you get approval for “28 days residential treatment” and then bill H0019 for each day, you’re aligned. But if you mistakenly billed those as inpatient hospital days (revenue code 0120 or an inpatient DRG), you’d get denied as not authorized. In short: use the correct code for the level of care provided and authorized. Our article on Understanding HCPCS and CPT Codes for Addiction Treatment offers a deeper dive into these codes and when to use each.

Setting the Stage for Insurer-Specific Guides

Every payer has its quirks. Some, like UnitedHealth Group, operate nationwide with complex products (HMO, PPO, Medicaid, Medicare) and thus have varied rules by state or plan – but they do publish broad guidelines (Optum’s Level of Care Guidelines) that, thanks to advocacy and legal pressure, now align with expert standards like ASAM (Clinical Criteria and Guidelines). Others, like regional Blue Cross plans, might closely follow state mandates and local norms. For instance, a Blue plan in Illinois or North Carolina must use ASAM criteria by law () (), whereas one in a state without such a mandate might still use InterQual or their own criteria unless or until compelled to change.

Throughout this blog series, we will break down the top insurers’ medical necessity criteria for addiction treatment one by one. Our goal is to give you practical insight into:

  • Which criteria or guidelines each payer uses (ASAM, MCG, etc.).

  • Key phrases or requirements from those criteria that you should address in documentation (for example, Anthem might emphasize “failure of lower level of care” in its guidelines, whereas another might focus on risk assessments).

  • Typical prior authorization requirements and how to navigate them for that insurer – including any online portals or forms unique to them.

  • Notable billing codes or rules (for instance, if a payer doesn’t cover a certain level of care or requires a specific code for a service).

  • Tips for providers to avoid denials – e.g., how to handle peer reviews or when to invoke an appeal. (If you do face an unjust denial, remember you have the right to appeal, and in urgent cases even request an expedited appeal. Some insurers like Centene have special expedited appeal lines – see our post on quickly appealing a Centene claim denial for an example.)

By understanding each insurer’s playbook, your treatment center can streamline approvals and get paid for the lifesaving services you provide. You’ll spend less time fighting insurance battles and more time focusing on patient care. In the posts that follow, we’ll dive into specifics – starting with the largest fish, UnitedHealth Group, in our next installment.

Stay tuned as we unpack the nuances of each payer’s requirements. Mastering medical necessity criteria may seem tedious, but it empowers you to advocate effectively for your clients and ensure no one is denied the addiction treatment they genuinely need. With the right knowledge (and a bit of paperwork finesse), you can turn insurance from a barrier into a partner in recovery.

ဆ Next Up:UnitedHealth Group – How to Navigate UHG’s Medical Necessity and Prior Authorization Process for Addiction Treatment (Coming soon) 🚀