The giant insurer accused the Southern California addiction treatment empire of “an egregious fraudulent scheme targeting vulnerable substance use disorder patients.”
The alleged healers, the company’s lawsuit claimed, paid “numerous body brokers to hunt down individuals needing (substance use disorder) treatment” and convinced them to enroll in their rehab programs “through kickbacks in the form of… cash and free living in homes that were little more than drug dens,” the Aetna Insurance charged in court documents filed more than two years ago against rehab operator Nathan Young and associates.
“(T)he Youngs then billed Aetna for ‘treatment’ that was either non-existent or substandard,” Aetna argued in the course of its $40 million action.
“If the members did not have a health benefits plan, the Youngs figured out a way to enroll them in one. All the while, the Youngs took actions to prolong treatment, avoid detection, and maximize the payments they received. Things have seemingly only gotten worse since Aetna filed this lawsuit.”
We’ve been reporting versions of this story for nearly a decade. And now, after more than two years of ferocious battle in federal court, both sides have reached a settlement and asked the judge to dismiss the case. That result disappoints some rehab industry reformers who wanted the case to go to trial, and see any evidence come out.
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