{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://vindman.house.gov/2025/12/19/vindman-rulli-bentz-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-to-address-scams-in-the-rehab-industry/", "Vindman, Rulli, Bentz Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Address Scams in the Rehab Industry", "2025-12-19", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "House", "VA", "Eugene Simon Vindman", "V000138", "vindman.house.gov", "vindman", "https://vindman.house.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Representatives Eugene Vindman (D-Va.-07), Michael Rulli (R-OH-06), and Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.-02) introduced a bipartisan bill to confront the rise of fraud, scams, and deceptive practices in the addiction treatment and recovery industry\n\n\u201cVirginians are fed up with scammers, and it\u2019s past time Congress did something about it. No one seeking help for addiction should be exploited or misled for profit,\u201d said Vindman. \u201cThis bill will support government watchdogs cracking down on bad actors with the tools and information they need to identify fraud in the rehab industry, protect patients from abuse, and ensure insurance dollars support real, effective care.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen bad actors exploit people seeking recovery by tricking them into leaving their homes to faraway states, providing little to no care, and then dumping them on the streets when their insurance expires, it isn\u2019t just fraud; it is cruel and disgusting,\u201d said Rulli. \u201cEvery dollar lost to this scam is a dollar that could have gone to legitimate treatments and quality care for the affected individuals.\u201d\n\nThe Protecting Patients from Rehab Fraud Act directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to study insurance fraud and patient exploitation within the drug addiction treatment and recovery industry. This bill aims to stop deceptive, predatory practices that exploit patients, drain insurance resources, and undermine legitimate treatment providers.\n\nSpecifically, the bill would direct the DOJ to examine:\n\nThe prevalence of insurance fraud in Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans used to house individuals at treatment facilities\n\nThe practice of brokers encouraging patients to commit insurance fraud to enroll in high-cost, out-of-network plans\n\nDrug use and trafficking within treatment facilities\n\nThe practice of \u201cpatient dumping,\u201d also known as \u201ccurbing,\u201d where patients are discharged and abandoned once their insurer no longer pays the facility\n\nInstances where patients are discharged in locations different from where they originated\n\nAny research on the prevalence of homelessness and relapse among individuals who are dumped by their rehab facility\n\nLegislative recommendations for Congress to crack down on illegal practices in the rehabilitation industry and protect prospective patients seeking rehab\n\nSpecifically, the GAO\u2019s study would examine:\n\nThe actions currently being undertaken by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the federal government to curb this type of insurance fraud\n\nThe extent and effectiveness of Congress\u2019 expenditure of taxpayer dollars on subsidizing rehab facilities to date\n\nState-level efforts to curb this type of insurance fraud\n\nRecommendations for Congress to crack down on illegal practices in the rehabilitation industry\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nThe addiction treatment field has grown quickly in the past decade. While many providers offer important, quality care, some predatory, for-profit operations have taken advantage of weak oversight and insurance rules.\n\n\u201cBody brokers\u201d recruit people with substance use disorders \u2014 often from other states \u2014 and steer them to specific facilities in exchange for illegal referral payments. They target people with valuable private or ACA insurance and often push them to lie about where they live or their income to get coverage.\n\nPatients are then transported to distant treatment centers that bill insurers large amounts for unnecessary or fraudulent care. When a patient\u2019s insurance runs out, these places commonly discharge them suddenly \u2014 often without money, transportation, medication, or follow-up support \u2014 leaving them stranded, homeless, or forced to return home on their own. Some end up in unfamiliar cities, relapse, overdose, or become trapped in homelessness.\n\nThe Protecting Patients from Rehab Fraud Act seeks to bring transparency and accountability to an industry where oversight has failed too many people seeking recovery.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://vindman.house.gov/2025/12/19/vindman-rulli-bentz-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-to-address-scams-in-the-rehab-industry/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9759689457714558, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}