Alcohol and drug rehab is a $35 billion dollar a year industry in the United States. There are currently more than one thousand drug treatment centers operating in the greater Los Angeles area alone. While many of these facilities have sincere intentions of helping addicts recover from their addictions, others have taken advantage of this vulnerable group of people in an effort to produce massive profits. So-called rehab centers compete with legitimate ones for their share of this multi-billion dollar industry. These “bad actors” often take advantage of lax regulations, (which can vary from state to state, city to city) by sucking up as much insurance money as they can from a patient and then kicking them out in the streets as soon as their insurance money runs out. This happens all too often in America, while the people who need rehab aren’t receiving the adequate treatment they deserve.
With literally thousands of options for treatment centers in the US, many have dubbed the industry: “the wild, wild, West” due to the lack of regulatory oversight.
Today, virtually anything goes and nobody knows if they’re going to a reputable treatment center or not. Much of the greed in the addiction industry was born out of the Affordable Care Act, more commonly referred to as Obamacare. This law mandated that rehab for substance abuse disorder must be covered by health care plans as one of the 10 essential health benefits. Although this was well intentioned, giving more people access to care they need, it also opened up the door for unethical operators to use addicts to bilk insurance companies and the American public out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Nefarious treatment centers have now sprung up all across the nation. Some operate out of old, run-down hotels, others in the basements of private residences. All promising your family members or loved ones who are struggling with addiction a cure to their potentially deadly disease. Once you give them your insurance information, they will charge daily drug-screening fees in excess of $1,200 per day. Many of these ‘treatment centers’ also own the drug testing facilities, or have kickback incentives in place to pilfer more money into their pockets. While someone stays in treatment or a sober house, they don’t know their insurance is being billed exorbitant amounts for tests and procedures that never even happen. It is tantamount to insurance fraud at its worst and for many struggling addicts it means their last chance for recovery.
As drug overdoses claimed more than 72,000 American lives in 2017, the time to get serious about addiction and treatment validity is now.
We believe that verified, licensed treatment providers with a proven track record have the ability offer the best forms of care. We follow the science behind addiction treatment and promote an evidence-based approach to patient care. Medication Assisted Treatments (MAT) such as buprenorphine for opioid withdrawals are the most effective form of treatment for opioid dependency. As congress has passed legislation promoting greater access to treatment and rehabilitation services for addicts, there is still a major problem with accountability and corruption within the substance abuse treatment industry.
Through Valid Resource, we strive to promote treatment programs that have higher success rates. Numerous studies have shown medication-assisted treatment programs work more effectively than other approaches to opioid abuse.
Addiction is a disease, and like most medical conditions, it can be treated and cured with the correct approach. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for addiction treatment. We strive to treat each patient individually with his or her unique needs in mind. We work with medical professionals to formulate an approach, which can offer the best results on an individualized basis. Hopefully with these ethical standards in place, we can even help save some lives.
Kreed is the senior content strategist at Redbear. He has lost 3 very close friends and a bandmate to the opioid epidemic. He is passionate about helping people who really need it. He can be found performing or watching live music on most weekends or playing with his dogs down by the Boise River.
