Military health insurance officials have contracted with Renaissance Ranch to cover substance abuse treatment for active-duty military and retirees, and their spouses and adult children, among others.
Starting this month, Renaissance Ranch will begin accepting substance use disorder patients covered under Tricare West insurance. The Ranch, an all-male Christian facility, anticipates the move will allow more current and former military personnel to seek the high-quality, faith-based care they need without having to deal with the hefty price tag of private treatment.
“This is huge for us, because Tricare provides excellent coverage for the substance abuse rehab options that we offer our clients,” said Preston Dixon, COO of Renaissance Ranch. “The relationship between our veterans and substance abuse is staggering,” he continued, “and now we have a powerful advantage in helping those who have served — and continue to serve — our country in such amazing ways.”
The Ranch has several treatment centers throughout Utah and Idaho and nearly 280,000 veterans call these states home. While not all veterans qualify for Tricare coverage, many do, making this development a significant step forward for increasing Renaissance’s outreach to the military community.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that alcohol abuse is the most common form of SUD with military personnel. Roughly one in three servicemembers meet the criteria for hazardous drinking, a practice which dramatically increases their chances of developing an alcohol use disorder. Drug abuse remains extremely low among active-duty personnel, mainly due to the fact that if caught, it’s a career-ender. However, NIDA statistics show that drug abuse rises considerably after a person leaves military service.
Veterans also are more likely than civilians to suffer from PTSD, especially if they have been deployed to a combat zone. PTSD tends to be closely linked to substance abuse, explained Dr. Hans Watson, renowned psychotherapist and Medical Director at the Renaissance Ranch addiction recovery center. “In over a decade [of working with patients], I’ve never met a person with a substance use disorder that didn’t also have trauma that needed to be resolved,” he said. Watson, who has served in the military for most of his career, is excited to welcome more servicemembers to the Ranch under Tricare West.
To learn more about Tricare’s coverage of addiction recovery services for men, visit www.RenaissanceRanch.net.
About Renaissance Ranch Treatment Centers
Renaissance Ranch is a Utah rehab center that uses a faith-based addiction recovery program by combining the traditional 12-Step approach to treatment combined with Gospel principles as they relate to alcohol and drug addiction. They are owned and operated by individuals who have been through the challenging road to recovery, but who have been made more whole and stronger by that very journey. Renaissance Ranch takes those who are at their lowest point and bring them into a program that gives them hope and a blueprint of how to grow and achieve their best selves.