Fraud in Florida’s drug treatment industry: report

Some victims of the U.S.’s opioid epidemic are being taken advantage of by corrupt treatment centers in Florida, according to a report from NBC News’s “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly.”

Corrupt treatment centers have reportedly partnered with “body brokers” and “sober homes” to search for patients with good health insurance.

After treatment centers have attracted patients, they charge their insurance tens of thousands of dollars for unnecessary drug screenings and questionable therapy. The NBC News report interviewed parents of three patients who died after joining “sober homes.” 

{mosads}The Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, and the Mental Health Parity Act require insurers to cover treatment for substance abuse; however, the fraudulent actors have taken advantage of the laws due to a lack of oversight.

Addicts have died due to the lack of oversight in the sober homes. Overdose deaths in Palm Beach, for example, have quadrupled over the past four years, according to the report.

The report comes as lawmakers at all levels of government work to combat an ongoing opioid abuse crisis. Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) declared a state of emergency over the growing crisis in May.

President Trump promised to combat the epidemic during the 2016 presidential campaign, though the Senate GOP bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare could cut Medicaid and exacerbate the national opioid abuse epidemic.