When you are referred by a Plan physician for residential treatment services outside your region, we’ll cover travel for you to and from the facility, and round-trip travel for one parent, guardian, or caregiver to take you to and pick you up from the facility, when determined to be medically necessary by your Plan provider. If your treating provider determines that participation in person by a parent, guardian, or caregiver is medically necessary to your treatment, and that participation cannot be done via video (e.g., Skype) or over the phone, we’ll pay for round-trip travel for the one parent, guardian, or caregiver to participate in your treatment.
We’ll arrange or reimburse transportation expenses for:
- Travel for you (the member) when referred by a Plan doctor for covered mental health or substance use disorder residential treatment services outside your region, or;
- Travel for a parent, guardian, or caregiver to drop you off and pick you up from the residential treatment facility, when a Plan provider determines it is medically necessary.
- Travel for a parent, guardian, or caregiver to participate in your treatment in person if a Plan provider determines it is medically necessary, or;
- Travel for you and one parent, guardian, or caregiver, if you’re a minor, to drop you off and pick you up from the residential treatment facility.
If we make your travel arrangements, we’ll prepay the full cost of round-trip travel by way of the most cost-effective and clinically appropriate transportation method. If you (as the member or parent, guardian, or caregiver) make your own arrangements, we’ll reimburse you up to the amount we would have paid if we had made the arrangements.
Transportation includes:
- Round-trip, coach-class airfare
- Economy train or bus tickets
- Taxi or equivalent rideshare services from the airport, train station, or bus terminal to or from the residential treatment facility or hotel.
- Mileage (calculated to and from the residential treatment facility at the current IRS mileage rate if you or your companion drive your own vehicle).
We will reimburse you (or your parent/guardian/caregiver) when traveling by personal automobile at the IRS mileage rate to and from your home to the referral site, up to the amount that we would have paid for round-trip coach class airfare if we had made the arrangements.