Just more than a year after going into effect, the Stop Addiction Fraud Ethics (SAFE) Act is proving to be instrumental in addressing substance abuse care in North Carolina.
The SAFE Act was championed by Senator Jim Burgin, and Representatives Tim Reeder and Allen Chesser. The law cracks down on patient brokering and other deceptive tactics that have been used to exploit people seeking treatment and defraud millions of premium-paying North Carolinians.
Patient brokering is “the illegal practice of paying or receiving kickbacks for referring patients to addiction treatment facilities.”
“On its surface it’s when somebody is paid to get an individual into treatment. They are paid a bounty. They will go to places like an AA meeting, and they will befriend the individuals at that meeting, posing as their friend, and then help them along to relapse,” says Sara Howe, CEO of Addiction Professionals of North Carolina.
In addition to taking advantage to people needing real care, patient brokering defrauds everyday businesses and workers who pay for health insurance.
Michael Roberts, Director of Outreach at Addiction Professionals of North Carolina, has seen the practice firsthand.
A patient broker pays individuals struggling with substance abuse $500 for drugs if they agree to stay at a certain facility. The facility then submits an insurance claim and gives the broker a kickback.
“I knew a young woman whose mother had to be told by somebody else in a facility…that she had passed,” Howe said. “Her insurance company paid $1.2 million for that bad facility, because they’re also scamming the insurance system at the same time.”
Now, using the SAFE Act as a foundation, state leaders are taking more steps to address the issue.
Burgin, Reeder, and Chesser were joined recently by representatives of Addiction Professionals of North Carolina to launch the North Carolina Treatment Connection initiative.
The initiative is a partnership between state legislators, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and substance abuse treatment providers. It aims to educate about patient brokering and to be a resource for those seeking quality, reputable care.
“Substance abuse disorders are a crisis,” said Reeder. “It claims the lives of 12 North Carolinians every single day. It costs $6.8 billion annually.”
The cost in lives and dollars is far too high.
Thank you to our legislative leaders, in partnership with Addiction Professionals of North Carolina, for taking real steps to address it.
.jpeg)
