Sadly, some California drug rehabs can take in patients for the profits they represent in the form of insurance money.

But coverage from Medi-Cal and private health insurers can run out, and facility owners can look to discharge patients who no longer represent earnings.

When facilities release patients before they are ready, and those patients are injured or lose their lives outside the care of a rehab, families can seek justice.

To find out how, call us today or fill out a free case review form.

Rehab Patients Discharged for Profit Margins

Families turn to drug treatment centers for hope. They agree to bring in loved ones suffering from Substance Use Disorder (SUD) to give them a secure and safe environment. It’s portrayed as a place where a recovery can start on stable ground.

Unfortunately, some owners and corporations in the rehab industry only see the process as a business. The more beds they fill, while saving money by understaffing their locations, the more profits these companies can count up.

And to protect those profits, they feel they should remove patients when their insurance money, or their family support, runs out.

The bottom line for families: Facility owners are liable for a patient’s safety after discharge, just like they are responsible for a patient’s safety while inside a treatment center.

Patient Dumping in California Rehab Facilities

In a business strategy known as “patient-dumping,” once the money pipeline ends, the patient’s well-being is forgotten.

Fentanyl detox providers can seek to discharge patients when no one is paying for their care. They can sometimes send patients out the door with no real plan.

This is dangerous because patients may have nowhere to go. They may also be at risk of immediate relapse. With a surprise discharge, patients may not be able to contact a loved one to avoid having to spend a night on the street and vulnerable.

The Code of Federal Regulations Title 42 § 483.15  explains that facilities must have a plan and documentation before releasing a patient. California Health and Safety Code (HSC § 1262.5) also mandates that patients have a discharge plan in place.

These are just a few of the requirements:

• A discharge may occur because the patient’s condition has improved and they no longer need the care offered at the facility.
• The discharge process must include an examination of the patient’s condition.
• A discharge is usually allowed when patients need to be moved to another facility.
• A discharge may move forward if a patient’s safety is jeopardized at the facility.
• A physician must approve the discharge.
• A report must be prepared explaining to families why a patient was discharged.

When these procedures aren’t followed, families have a right to ask questions. They can also seek evidence of a facility’s negligence and ask that certain documents and footage be preserved for a lawsuit. A skilled California Wrongful Death Drug Rehab Facility Lawyer can assist families in securing evidence that may be locked behind facility walls.

Discharging Patients at Night

Negligent and criminally negligent facilities could even expel a patient at night, simply because there will be less scrutiny.

This is particularly dangerous because many patients will have nowhere to go, and their family members may be harder to reach. Vulnerable patients who, after detox, are now more susceptible to drug overdoses can find a drug source, overdose, and die, all within an hour.  See: Reduced tolerance.

Insurance Coverage for Drug Rehab Patients

These shady patient-dumping attempts will often take place after an SUD patient’s money runs out.

This coverage may come from several sources.

Medi-Cal Coverage: Low-income patients on California’s version of Medicaid can seek drug treatment therapy without paying anything. Inpatient care at a licensed facility would usually continue for 30 days and then be reviewed. Support would usually not be cut unless medical experts concluded that a less-intensive program was now optimal. Patients may also lose eligibility if it’s found they earn too much income.

Private Insurance Coverage: Patients can also pay for admission to a rehab center with their own insurance. Perhaps it’s health insurance received through their employer or a parent’s insurance. Patients can lose insurance protection if they lose their jobs or are unable to keep up with premiums. Some insurers also have limits on what policies will pay.

Family Money: Families who can afford it can pay for care out of their own pockets. But savings can be exhausted, or family members can pull funding, suddenly leaving loved ones vulnerable to discharge. Patients or family members may also take out loans, but only have coverage until the borrowed money runs out.

Unfortunately, with most insurance coverage and government-funded coverage, the money can be pulled when doctors deem a patient ready to move on. They may pronounce a patient in need of lower-intensity treatment, graduated from 24/7 medical care.

The problem comes when a physician gets an assessment wrong, allowing a patient to be sent away when they are in danger of relapse or still at risk of withdrawal injuries. Physicians can also recommend discharge for the wrong reasons, perhaps to clear space or for financial reasons.

These mistakes can be proven, and drug treatment centers can be held responsible.

Patient Brokering at California Rehabs

A related, and illegal, practice actually brings more patients into the facility to help boost profits. It involves paying agents and staff at other facilities to recommend a certain drug rehab.

Facilities can enroll more patients, but the practice is against the law. Treatment centers can also intake patients they aren’t qualified to help, simply to secure the insurance payments until they run dry.

Evidence of these underhanded practices can be secured. Facility owners can face criminal charges. They can be forced to provide support to families who have lost a loved one.

Support for Grieving Families

Families who lose a loved one to the actions of an unethical drug rehab may quickly be hit with financial issues. While they should be allowed to mourn in peace, loved ones, like a spouse and children, can be forced to worry about burial costs and ambulance fees.

They may suddenly have no weekly income because the deceased was supporting the family with income from a steady job. It’s critical support that’s no longer available.

Families must file a claim and demand support from negligent rehabs.

A lawyer can represent the family and demand wrongful death damages (and in some cases, Survival Action damages):

• Support to cover funeral and burial.

• Support to pay medical bills left behind.
• Replacement of the income a loved one would have provided in the present and in the years ahead.
• Support for the love, care, and guidance that’s been lost.
• Support for the loss of companionship for parents who lose a child who was prematurely discharged from a juvenile rehab program without cause.

Contact Us if a California Rehab Facility Caused Your Loved One Harm.

Attorney Martin Gasparian offers a free, confidential consultation to all families who lost a loved one after they were discharged from a drug rehab facility. We offer an understanding place to discuss what happened and how to force clinics to accept fault.

Call us today to schedule a free case review. There’s no obligation, but if you need our help, we don’t charge your family anything upfront. If you hire us, we are only paid if we win the case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement check that a negligent facility must write for your family.