by: Matthew Boyle

According to SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, there are more than 20 million Americans who have suffered from a substance use disorder in the past year. That’s a lot of people who need treatment! Unfortunately, unscrupulous companies motivated by greed have recognized this opportunity and decided to take advantage of people in their time of need, opening treatment facilities that do little but drain patients of money and time. Fortunately, there are also plenty of reputable treatment centers out there that are offering individuals evidence-based care and post-release support that really works. Here are some of the treatment center scams and practices that you need to look out for if you are searching for rehab.

Why Are There Fraudulent Treatment Centers?

The addiction treatment center industry is big. Big enough to be netting over $35 billion a year. That number is expected to only increase and reach an estimated $42 billion by 2020. Despite the enormous amount of money involved, there is surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly) little oversight for the treatment providers in terms of services, prices, and credentials. In California, there are nearly 2000 rehabs overseen by only 16 inspectors. From state to state, unscrupulous treatment vendors manage to slide under the radar and exploit patients and insurance companies for all their worth. How much can these companies make from a single patient? Here’s the breakdown based on industry averages:

• Professional Intervention – $2500
• Detox – $500 per day (usually 3 – 12 days)
• Inpatient Rehab – Anywhere from $6,000 (Basic)  – $100,000 (Luxury)
• Intensive Outpatient – $5,000 – $10,000 per month
• Partial Hospitalization – $300 – $500 per day
• Sober Living Facilities – $2500 per month
• Methadone Program – $4000 per year
• Monthly Vivitrol Shots – $600 – $1200 per injection

Patient Brokering

One of the biggest scams and a big red flag for treatment centers is patient brokering. This occurs when treatment centers utilize an employee or referral source in the same way that a company uses their sales team, in essence providing a monetary incentive and paying for every person booked into treatment. Sometimes referred to as “junkie-hunting”, this practice is illegal under federal law since healthcare providers, including drug rehab facilities, are not allowed to pay commissions, bonuses, or kickbacks for patient referrals. Several states have passed regulations that increase enforcement measures for this law, such as in Arizona, California, and Florida where the treatment industry is biggest.

Privacy Violations

Healthcare information is highly personal and confidential under federal law. However, some treatment facilities and referral organizations ignore this and choose to sell patient information to individuals outside of the treatment team. This is in direct violation of HIPAA, but these people see the reward of offering up patients to the highest bidder as worth the risk. Potential patient’s names and healthcare information are sold to the highest bidder, while some brokers will even pay for a prospective patient’s airfare because they know that the treatment facility will compensate them afterwards.

Deceptive Online Practices

One red flag and a huge issue within the treatment industry is the use of online referral services that intentionally mislead individuals into thinking they are an unbiased, third-party platform for treatment referral. In reality, these websites are owned by parent companies related to treatment centers and use these websites as lures for their own facilities. Some of these companies began buying up advertising space from their competitors names, essentially using money to block people from finding treatment outside of their own facilities. These dubious practices were so rampant in the industry that Google chose to shut down advertising on its search engine until better oversight could be implemented.

Insurance Fraud

Another scam that some drug and alcohol treatment facilities have used is offering scholarships that promise to cover treatment costs for patients. In reality, these patients are signed up for premium insurance plans and the treatment center is using the opportunity to charge the provider exorbitantly high rates. A handful of programs were busted for billing insurance companies on items that were not necessary or for exaggerating the cost and need of certain services. For example, charging $900 for monthly urine tests, or charging Medicare $150 per hour to take a patient to see a movie. These kinds of facilities seek to sustain themselves by taking advantage of patients and their insurance providers.

Deceptive Marketing

Some facilities may employ deceptive marketing or downright false advertising, promising patients that they have 100% success rates or that they will be sober for a lifetime. Unethical rehab facilities may use these outlandish claims in order to entice individuals who are desperate and don’t know enough about the industry. Some facilities may promise premium services like cell phones, plane tickets, free rent and more in the hope that individuals may even cross state lines to attend their rehab.

Staking Out Sober Living Homes

Sober living homes are places where individuals can stay in a drug and alcohol free environment following their graduation from rehab. However, some of these places can be of more quality than others. Fraudulent sober living homes will work with outpatient programs and offer free rent to their tenants in exchange for billing their insurance. Some residents continue to use substances while in a sober living house because the landlord would prefer to keep their income coming in. In other instances, patient brokers may scour local sober living homes and 12-Step meetings to find patients and refer them to outpatient programs for a payout.

In Conclusion

Unfortunately, there is no mandatory, national certification for addiction counselors and in 2012 only six states required alcohol and substance abuse counselors to have some type of degree. The first step for confirming whether your prospective facility is legit is to check and see if they are verified by either the Joint Commission or CARF, the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehab Facilities. If they are not certified, beware of using their services. If they are, conduct your own research to determine whether they have positive reviews and success stories, whether they use referral sources, what kind of claims they make on their website, and if they are staffed by licensed and degree-carrying therapists and counselors. Do your research and you won’t fall victim to deceptive companies in the treatment industry.

BIO

Matthew Boyle is the Chief Operating Officer of Landmark Recovery, a growing chain of drug and alcohol rehab centers in Oklahoma and Kentucky. Matthew graduated from Duke University in 2011 Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree and has worked in the healthcare industry ever since, creating a holistic treatment model that supports patients in the pursuit of achieving lifelong sobriety.

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