Red flags
This industry has a dark side.
Most people who work in treatment are there to help. Some programs are built to bill. Here is how to tell them apart before you hand over an insurance card.
They offer to pay for your travel, or give you anything for coming
Paying patients to choose a facility is illegal under federal law. It means you are worth more to them than the flight.
They cannot, or will not, tell you what it will cost
A program can verify your benefits in an hour. If they will not put a number in writing, the number is bad.
“We have one bed left. You need to decide today.”
Pressure is a sales tactic, not a clinical one.
The website or hotline will not say who owns it
Many “helplines” are lead generators that sell your call to the highest bidder.
They guarantee a cure or quote a success rate
Nobody can honestly promise an outcome. Ask how the number was measured.
They discourage or forbid medication for opioid addiction
This contradicts the medical standard of care and raises the risk of fatal overdose after discharge.
Urine tests several times a week
Lab testing can be billed at thousands of dollars per test. Frequent testing is often about revenue.
They recommend the highest level of care before assessing you
A level of care should follow an assessment, not your insurance card.
Free rent in a sober home if you attend their outpatient program
This is a classic patient brokering arrangement.
They will waive your deductible or copay
Routinely waiving cost-sharing can be insurance fraud, and it usually means they are billing your plan far more.
No discharge plan
If nobody talks about the day you leave, they are focused on the days you are billable.
You cannot find a state license
Every state licenses treatment programs. No license number, no admission.
Found a place and not sure about it?
Run it past someone who knows the industry from the inside.