Sponsored
If you have been priced out of opioid treatment or told the wait is six weeks, there is one more place to try in Denver, Colorado.
A local mental health nonprofit that has offered medication treatment for opioid use for years has now added a walk-in clinic, where you can be seen the same day without an appointment and where low-cost opioid treatment is funded through Medicaid, grants, and donations rather than an upfront bill. Denverite reported on the new program on August 5.
Who Qualifies for Free or Low-Cost Treatment Here
The clinic is open to anyone seeking help for opioid use, and the organization running it is supported by Medicaid insurance, grants, and individual donations. Costs vary depending on your insurance, and staff work with all comers regardless of coverage status.
If you have Medicaid, that is the most direct path. Colorado Medicaid covers medications for opioid use disorder, and the clinic already bills it.
If you are uninsured, the nonprofit’s grant and donation funding is what makes low-cost opioid treatment possible at sites like this one, so it is worth walking in and asking rather than assuming you cannot afford it.
There is no requirement that you already be abstinent from everything else. A peer specialist at the clinic described the approach plainly, saying the goal is to help people use less and use more safely, and that someone who is not ready to stop entirely but is willing to come in and listen has already taken a first step.
How to Access These Resources
The clinic runs walk-in hours one afternoon a week, and the program has said it hopes to expand. Current capacity is around six patients a week, so arriving early in the window is sensible.
No appointment is needed. The program’s website carries current hours, and the clinic operates out of the nonprofit’s recovery center on East 12th Avenue in Denver.
One practical detail matters before you go. To start these medications, you need to be far enough into withdrawal that the medication works correctly in your system.
A nurse practitioner at the clinic said that with fentanyl this usually means roughly 24 hours, though it depends on how much and how often a person has been using. Staff can walk you through the timing.
Payment Options Explained
Medicaid. Covers medications for opioid use disorder in Colorado. The clinic bills it directly. Private insurance. Accepted, with out-of-pocket costs varying by plan. Ask the clinic to check your benefits before your first visit.
No insurance. The nonprofit’s Medicaid revenue, grant funding, and donations subsidize care. Walk in and ask what your cost would be rather than ruling it out.
Harm reduction supplies. Fentanyl test strips and naloxone nasal spray are handed out at the clinic at no cost, along with instruction on how to use them.
Two Medication Options
Patients who qualify can receive either a daily film taken under the tongue or a monthly injection. Both are built on buprenorphine, a medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that reduces cravings and withdrawal.
The monthly injection means fewer daily steps to manage, which some people find easier to sustain. One person in addiction treatment there, who asked to be identified only by her first name, told Denverite she had spent years in long lines at a methadone clinic without ever reaching a dose that stopped her cravings.
She said the switch made a difference for her almost immediately. Individual responses to these medications vary, and methadone remains effective for many people.
Finding Free and Low-Cost Rehabs in Colorado
If Denver is not close enough, or the weekly window does not work for you, there are other routes. Check whether you qualify for Colorado Medicaid coverage for addiction treatment.
Search free and low-cost programs in your area by payment type. Call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for free, confidential referrals to treatment and harm reduction services in your state, available 24 hours a day.
Rehabs.org lists free and low-cost treatment options nationwide, filterable by Medicaid, sliding scale, and free programs. Call
800-914-7089
(
Sponsored)
to speak with a treatment specialist today.
More Articles Like This
