‘The Abuse Is So Obscene, It’s Mind-Boggling’: Lawmakers Target Fraud In Addiction Treatment Facilities
Unscrupulous actors stand to make a lot of profit in the treatment industry, which has very little regulation. California lawmakers are trying to change that.
Capital Public Radio:
California Lawmakers Want To Crack Down On Fraud At Drug Rehab Centers. Will It Work?
Some lawmakers are aiming to cut down on corruption at addiction-recovery facilities by changing the way insurance companies reimburse providers. There are a whole host of problems with the drug rehab industry, according to a major investigation by the Southern California News Group: No degree, medical or otherwise, is required to get a facility license; and some centers are administering subpar, and even unnecessary, care and then billing insurance companies for it in the hopes of earning high reimbursements. (Caiola, 6/25)
In other public health news —
KPCC:
How California's Doctor Assisted Suicide Law Works
Doctor assisted suicide has been legal in California for just over two years. It was overturned by a Riverside judge in May. As the law is hashed out in appeals courts, we take a look at how it's worked over the past two years. (Faust, 6/25)
Los Angeles Times:
The Surprising Thing The 'Marshmallow Test' Reveals About Kids In An Instant-Gratification World
Here’s a psychological challenge for anyone over 30 who thinks “kids these days” can’t delay their personal gratification: Before you judge, wait a minute. It turns out that a generation of Americans now working their way through middle school, high school and college are quite able to resist the prospect of an immediate reward in order to get a bigger one later. Not only that, they can wait a minute longer than their parents’ generation, and two minutes longer than their grandparents’ generation could. (Healy, 6/26)