Massachusetts Addiction Clinic Settles Improper Patient Billing Case

A Massachusetts opioid addiction treatment clinic and its owners will pay $612,000 for allegedly charging Medicaid patients hundreds of dollars for services that were then also billed to Medicaid.

The Center for Psychiatric Medicine, in North Andover, Mass., owned by Thomas McLaughlin and Joseph Campione, allegedly demanded Medicaid patients pay cash to receive treatment with Suboxone (buprenorphine), which suppresses cravings for opioids, according to the settlement, filed in Massachusetts Superior Court Aug. 9.

Under state and federal Medicaid rules, it is “strictly prohibited” for providers to seek money from Medicaid patients for treatments covered under the program, including opioid addiction, ...