WASHINGTON, DC - The House Energy and Commerce Committee today announced a hearing before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee for Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, at 10:15 a.m. in room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, “Examining Concerns of Patient Brokering and Addiction Treatment Fraud."
With the opioid epidemic and an increase in substance use disorders, there has been an increased demand for treatment. Sadly, recent reports indicate that individuals known as “patient brokers" are treating individuals seeking treatment for their opioid addiction as a commodity, rather than helping them receive legitimate treatment and ultimately achieve recovery.
#SubOversight will examine the patient broker scheme and a number of complex issues within. Among those issues, are: how to better protect this vulnerable population, how this scheme is affecting individuals seeking treatment and the substance use disorder treatment community, what the states are doing to combat this issue, and the challenges they are facing as a result.
Confirmed witnesses include:
* Douglas Tieman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Caron Treatment Centers;
* Pete Nielsen, Chief Executive Officer, California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals;
* Dave Aronberg, State Attorney, 15th Judicial Circuit;
* Alan S. Johnson, Chief Assistant State Attorney, 15th Judicial Circuit, Head of the Palm Beach County Sober Homes Task Force; and
* Eric M. Gold, Assistant Attorney General, Chief, Health Care Division, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General.
Bipartisan committee leaders have actively been investigating patient brokering reports for the last several months, first sending a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in July, and most recently sending letters to departments of six state governments to gather additional information regarding how substance use disorder treatment facilities are regulated and overseen at the state level in November.as they are posted.
