"Addiction treatment bonanza: How urine tests rake in millions"

August 1, 2015

News

Like thousands of other families, when an out-of-state couple last year sent their 23-year-old son to Palm Beach County for addiction treatment, they understood his recovery could be lengthy and pricey.

What they didn’t anticipate was the bill that arrived weeks after he finished treatment: a six-figure tab, not for counseling or medical care, but for the humblest of drug screens — peeing into a cup.

The total charge for nine months of tests: $304,318.

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Skilled nursing facilities will soon be required to significantly expand their reporting of ownership and control information on newly updated CMS-855A forms. Private equity companies and other organizations like real estate investment trusts have been named as one of the reasons that the expanded reporting for SNFs has been implemented. As such, these organizations should be aware that they may be a part of this reporting through a number of routes.

Over the past 24 months, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has brought notable enforcement efforts against several non-profit covered entities and business associates, resulting in instances of six and seven-figure penalties against providers across the county for incidents involving breaches of protected health information.

A new amendment to New York state law, which would have required all healthcare providers to obtain separate consents from patients for treatment and payment is on hold until further guidance is released, according to the New York Department of Health.

"Addiction treatment bonanza: How urine tests rake in millions"

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