Fraudulent Sober Homes Exploited Native Americans, Say Authorities

livemint.com:

PHOENIX—When Darrian Anagal heard about a house on the outskirts of this city where addicts like her could live and receive help getting sober at no cost, she decided to give it a try. Days after the 29-year-old Navajo tribal member arrived, she noticed people smoking methamphetamine and drinking in their rooms, as well as selling drugs to housemates, she said. She moved to a second sober-living home, where the house’s owner gave residents a gram of marijuana for every day they stayed.

The only requirements at either place, it seemed, was that Anagal provide her Medicaid number so the facilities could get reimbursed under a program that allowed providers in Arizona to bill significantly more for rehabilitation services for Native Americans than other people. “They were more like drug houses," said Anagal, who relapsed at the homes, smoking meth and drinking whiskey. “When you have somebody knocking on your door asking if you want to get high, getting sober is not an option." For months, state and federal law-enforcement officials have been investigating a Medicaid scam in which hundreds of fraudulent sober-living homes in the Phoenix area have recruited Native Americans from across the West.

Working with rehab facilities, the businesses charged the state millions of dollars for addiction services they didn’t provide, according to authorities. Several thousand Native Americans, some from as far away as Montana, might have been lured to the Arizona homes, according to officials. Instead of getting help, some reported rampant drug use and drinking in the homes and little in the way of rehab.