CHARLESTON, W.Va. - United States Attorney Will Thompson announced today that sober living residences in the Southern District of West Virginia are a focus of the United States Attorney’s Health Care Fraud Task Force.
Sober homes can provide drug- and alcohol-free living environments crucial to promoting and sustaining long-term recovery from substance use disorder. But the potential for fraud has grown with the rise in treatment and recovery programs and facilities across the district.
“West Virginia needs quality treatment options as it continues to confront the crisis of addiction," Thompson said. “We cannot tolerate criminal activity that prioritizes profit over the providing of effective treatment, given the deadly consequences that all too easily can result."
Thompson announced the task force’s focus today during a health care fraud conference held by his office and the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. More than 50 law enforcement officers, public health officials and others received the latest information about fraud that impacts the cost of health care as well as the quality of care received by our most vulnerable citizens.
Nationally recognized experts detailed current trends and developments in such areas as prescription opioid investigations, health care fraud investigations and substance use disorder. These speakers explained how fraud can exploit every level of care for substance use disorder, from detox and residential treatment facilities to outpatient programs and recovery residences.
The United States Attorney’s Health Care Fraud Task Force brings together federal, state, and local law enforcement partners from numerous agencies to coordinate intelligence sharing and prosecution of health care fraud impacting Medicare, Medicaid, and other public health care programs.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
