A partial hospitalization program is a full clinical day without an overnight stay. You attend for most of a working day, several days a week. You sleep at home or in supported housing. It sits between residential treatment and intensive outpatient care, and for many Colorado residents it is the level that makes treatment possible at all.
This page explains what a PHP involves and where the hour figures people quote come from. It covers which of our Colorado campuses runs one, what a day and a week look like, and the housing question. It also covers how a PHP compares with a residential stay, how coverage works with a commercial plan or Health First Colorado, and how people get there several days a week. Our Colorado addiction treatment page carries the wider state picture.
What a PHP involves, and whose hour rule that is
Start with the clearest published description. Then be careful about whose rule it is.
Medicare sets conditions for the partial hospitalization services it pays for. The Medicare rule says these programs are intended for patients who require a minimum of 20 hours per week of therapeutic services, as set out in their plan of care [1]. The same Medicare rule sets six further conditions [1]. Three of them bear on this decision. The patient is likely to benefit from a coordinated program rather than isolated outpatient sessions. The patient does not require 24-hour care. And the patient has an adequate support system while not actively engaged in the program.
That is a Medicare condition of payment. It is a useful published benchmark for what “intensive” means. It is not a definition every payer or program uses, so treat an hour figure as belonging to whoever set it.
Federal reporting describes the level more broadly. Partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient services range from counseling and education to clinically intensive programming [2]. Partial hospitalization is described as a step-down option after residential treatment, usually available 6 to 8 hours a day during the work week [2].
Colorado recognizes the level in its own benefit. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing lists partial hospitalization services at ASAM level 2.5 in the continuum it publishes [3]. It also says Colorado uses the ASAM criteria to determine level of care placement for members [3]. Our levels of care page sets out the whole ladder.
The Recovery Village Palmer Lake, and the levels it runs
Our Colorado campus for this level of care is The Recovery Village at Palmer Lake, between Denver and Colorado Springs.
Its own page describes a 110-bed facility that welcomes adults from all backgrounds and offers personalized treatment programming to fit a variety of needs [5]. The levels it cards are medical detox, inpatient treatment, partial hospitalization programming, intensive outpatient programming, outpatient programming and aftercare planning [5]. Its admissions section states that same-day admission is available and that walk-ins are accepted [5].
That range matters more than it looks for someone considering a PHP. The campus’s own what-to-expect page sets out the sequence it runs. Care often starts with medical detox, and from there a person transitions to residential care, partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient care [7]. Treatment continues there before an aftercare plan is formulated with the medical team [7]. The same page says the programs a person takes part in depend on their own personal needs [7].
Which level you start at is not something a page can tell you. It comes out of a clinical assessment, and Colorado’s own benefit is explicitly built that way [3]. Read more on our page for The Recovery Village at Palmer Lake.
A typical day and week
Expect a clinical day rather than a few appointments. Federal reporting puts partial hospitalization at usually 6 to 8 hours a day during the work week [2], and Medicare’s own condition is framed around a plan of care requiring at least 20 hours a week of therapeutic services [1].
Within that, the shape of a day belongs to the program you are actually entering. The Palmer Lake campus’s own what-to-expect page says a day may include group and individual therapy sessions, recreational activities and more, depending on the level of care [7]. The same page says no two programs are exactly alike, and that daily life changes as a person moves through the levels of care [7]. So ask for the current timetable at admission rather than assuming one.
The practical consequence is that a PHP is a job-sized commitment. That is the honest thing to say to someone weighing it against outpatient care: it is not a lighter option that happens to let you sleep at home.
That also leaves evenings and weekends outside the program, which is exactly what makes the housing question the next one to answer.
Partial hospitalization at our Colorado campus
The Recovery Village at Palmer Lake is our campus in Palmer Lake, Colorado. It runs medical detox, inpatient treatment, partial hospitalization programming, intensive outpatient programming, outpatient programming and aftercare planning, and a clinical assessment decides which of those a person starts at.
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The Recovery Village at Palmer Lake is part of our family of treatment centers. See the Recovery Village at Palmer Lake campus.
Housing while attending a day program
Where you sleep is part of the clinical decision, not a detail to sort out afterward.
Medicare’s condition names the point directly: partial hospitalization is intended for patients who have an adequate support system while not actively engaged in the program [1]. Federal reporting makes the same point from the other side, describing residential programs as appropriate for physically and emotionally stabilized individuals who may not have a living situation that supports recovery, may have a history of relapse, or have co-occurring physical and/or mental illnesses [2].
So the question to put to an assessing clinician is concrete. Is anyone in the house using? Is the substance in the house? Is the household stable enough to get you out of the door at eight in the morning for several weeks?
If the answer to any of those is no, say so plainly at the assessment, because it usually changes the recommendation rather than ending it. If supported or sober housing alongside a day program is on the table, ask about it in the same conversation. The questions are who runs it, what it costs, what the rules are and how long a stay usually lasts. Our outpatient rehab page covers the lighter levels below this one.
PHP or residential, for a Colorado resident
The decision turns on two things: medical risk and the environment you go home to each night.
Medical risk comes first. Where there is physical dependence, the setting for withdrawal is a separate question from the setting for treatment. Federal guidance says that for alcohol, sedative-hypnotic and opioid withdrawal, hospitalization or some form of 24-hour medical care is generally the preferred setting for detoxification [6]. In severe alcohol dependence, seizures, delirium tremens, and dysregulation of body temperature, pulse and blood pressure are outcomes that can lead to fatal consequences [6]. The same chapter carries the other half of that asymmetry: unlike alcohol and sedative withdrawal, uncomplicated opioid withdrawal is not life-threatening [6].
If someone is having a seizure, is unresponsive or has trouble breathing, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.
So the usual sequence is not a choice between the two levels at all. Detox where it is indicated, residential care where the assessment calls for it, then a step down into a PHP, which is the use federal reporting describes for it [2].
The environment question is the second half, and it is the one people answer optimistically. A day program returns you to your own life every evening, which is its strength when that life is workable and its weakness when it is not. Our inpatient rehab page describes the alternative, and what the rehab process is like walks through a stay end to end.
Coverage in Colorado
Three routes, and which applies changes who you call first.
On a commercial plan, we do not publish coverage figures for a named carrier such as Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Colorado, because the only accurate answer is the one your own plan gives. What is generally true is the order of payment. HealthCare.gov defines a deductible as the amount you pay for covered health care services before your insurance plan starts to pay [8]. After that you usually pay a copayment or coinsurance, and the insurance company pays the rest [8]. Whether approval is needed before this level of care is worth establishing on the benefits call rather than assuming either way. Our own cost page puts partial hospitalization at $350 to $450 a day, which is our published range rather than a federal figure; the full cost breakdown sets out what moves it.
Federal parity law limits how far a plan can go. Under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, a plan that covers mental health and substance use care may not apply harsher financial requirements or treatment limits to it than it applies to substantially all medical and surgical care in the same class [4]. That reaches prior authorization and step therapy as well as visit and day caps [4]. The scope is worth knowing. It applies to non-federal governmental plans with more than 50 employees, to group health plans of private employers with more than 50 employees, and to the individual market [4]. Plans from small employers are not covered directly. They get comparable protection through the Affordable Care Act’s essential health benefits requirement [4].
Health First Colorado is the state’s Medicaid program. Its own department publishes two things worth knowing. Behavioral health services including substance use disorder treatment are available to all members without the need for a referral or copay [3]. The benefit covers a full continuum of care as outlined by ASAM [3]. Services run from screening and harm reduction through outpatient, intensive outpatient and medication-assisted treatment to withdrawal management and on to residential and hospital inpatient services [3]. Our page on insurance coverage for rehab covers the mechanics.
Getting there, several days a week
A day program only works if you can reach it reliably, and in Colorado that is a real planning question rather than a formality.
Think about the whole season rather than the week you start. A drive that is straightforward in September is a different proposition in February, and a program you cannot reach in snow is a program you will start missing. Ask what the attendance policy is and what happens on a day the weather closes a route.
Ask the practical questions at admission too. What time does the day start and end? Is there any transport arrangement? And what happens if you are late because of traffic or conditions, rather than because you did not come?
Then be honest about the commute in the assessment. A person who says the journey is fine because they want the day-program option will miss sessions later, and attendance is what makes this level work. Our guide to how to get into rehab sets out what that first call covers, and our facility directory lists our campuses by state.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you run a PHP in Colorado? Yes. The Recovery Village at Palmer Lake cards partial hospitalization programming alongside medical detox, inpatient treatment, intensive outpatient programming, outpatient programming and aftercare planning. Its own page describes a 110-bed facility welcoming adults from all backgrounds, and states that same-day admission is available and walk-ins are accepted. Which level suits you is decided at the clinical assessment.
How many hours a week is a PHP? It depends on the program and the payer, so treat quoted figures carefully. Medicare’s condition of payment is that partial hospitalization is intended for patients requiring a minimum of 20 hours per week of therapeutic services as evidenced in their plan of care, which is Medicare’s rule rather than everyone’s. Federal reporting separately describes these programs as usually available 6 to 8 hours a day during the work week.
Can I live at home during a PHP? Usually, and that is the point of the level. Medicare’s condition includes having an adequate support system while not actively engaged in the program, which is the clinical way of asking whether home works. If the substance is in the house, or someone there is using, say so at the assessment; it often changes the recommendation to residential care or to supported housing alongside the day program.
Does Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Colorado cover partial hospitalization? That depends on your specific plan, your deductible position and whether prior approval is granted, so nobody can promise it in advance. Federal parity law does limit how much more restrictive a plan may be for substance use benefits than for medical and surgical benefits in the same class, and that reaches prior authorization as well as day and visit caps. Ask our admissions team to verify benefits with the carrier.
How is PHP different from residential treatment? Two differences, and one of them is medical. You do not sleep at the facility, and Medicare’s condition for partial hospitalization includes that the patient does not require 24-hour care. Federal reporting describes partial hospitalization as a step-down option after completing residential treatment. Where withdrawal is a factor, the setting for that is its own question: hospitalization or 24-hour medical care is generally preferred for alcohol, sedative-hypnotic and opioid withdrawal.
Sources
- Legal Information Institute. 42 CFR § 410.43 — Partial hospitalization services: Conditions and exclusions. Cornell Law School. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/42/410.43
- Office of the Surgeon General. (2016). Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health — Chapter 4: Early Intervention, Treatment, and Management of Substance Use Disorders. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK424859/
- Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. Ensuring Full Continuum SUD Benefits. State of Colorado. https://hcpf.colorado.gov/ensuring-full-continuum-sud-benefits
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). CMS.gov. https://www.cms.gov/marketplace/private-health-insurance/mental-health-parity-addiction-equity
- The Recovery Village at Palmer Lake. Drug and Alcohol Rehab in Palmer Lake, Colorado. The Recovery Village. https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/locations/palmer-lake/
- Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. (2006). Detoxification and Substance Abuse Treatment, Chapter 4: Physical Detoxification Services for Withdrawal From Specific Substances. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 45. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64116/
- The Recovery Village at Palmer Lake. Colorado Rehab & Detox: What to Expect at The Recovery Village at Palmer Lake. The Recovery Village. https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/locations/palmer-lake/what-to-expect-palmer-lake/
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Deductible — Glossary. HealthCare.gov. https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/deductible/
This page is for general information and is not medical advice. Only a licensed clinician who knows your history can tell you what is right for you. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911. For free, confidential support 24/7, call or text 988.
Author
Chief Medical Officer,
The Recovery Village
