Dec 12, 2017
Congress Looks at Patient Brokering Problem
PPU: 12.12.17
Today the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Committee held a hearing regarding patient brokering and addiction treatment fraud. As you know, this is an issue the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) has focused on extensively and which will be addressed in the revised NAATP Ethics Code and the Quality Assurance Initiative (QAI).
At the hearing, the problems associated with the practice of patient brokering were detailed. How to address the problem from a federal legal perspective was also discussed, since programs are licensed on a state-by-state basis. It appears Congress may be asking Health and Human Services (HHS) to pressure states to crack down through funding requirements, although that has not been finalized. States could be asked to enact laws similar to those passed in Florida recently.
The National Association has discussed these problems extensively with the committee staff. They are appreciative of the efforts made by NAATP and are anxious to review our ethics policy and best practices guidebook when they are completed.
This is a priority issue for our members and one NAATP will be intimately involved in moving forward.
Mark Dunn
NAATP Director of Public Policy
Washington, DC
