A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee recently determined that phenylephrine, an ingredient commonly used to treat sinus and nasal congestion, is ineffective in treating these symptoms. This was apparent from research for years, yet large...
El senador estadounidense Marco Rubio (R-FL) habló con César Grajales de La Poderosa 670 AM en El Panorama Político, sobre la crisis fronteriza, sobre cómo los hispanoamericanos se ven afectados con la realidad del país, sobre los cargos contra el senador Bob Menéndez...
Pregnant students are sometimes discriminated against by their schools, either intentionally or unintentionally and there is a concerning lack of awareness about the resources and rights available to them. Due to a lack of services and discrimination, these women may...
Currently, intelligence community civilians are subject to certain tax penalties for job-related relocation requirements, but active-duty military servicemembers are not subjected to the same penalties. These tax benefits, including the ability to deduct moving...
Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Marco Rubio (R-FL) delivered opening remarks and questioned witnesses at a hearing on countering China’s influence in the United States. Watch Rubio’s opening remarks here as well as Part I and Part II of...
Approximately 302,000 Americans live with spinal cord injuries. To help these people achieve a better quality of life, there is a need to increase education and invest in research. U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) successfully led a bipartisan...
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) announced today that his legislation, the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act, which he introduced with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), to help stop payments to middlemen referring patients to illicit sober homes and treatment centers—increasingly a problem in South Florida—has been included in the opioids package. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the bill tomorrow, and the Senate will follow suit in the near future.
In May, Rubio also introduced the Sober Home Fraud Detection Act, which would help states, law enforcement, private insurers and patients identify potentially illicit sober home providers to ensure those who need treatment are able to do so from legitimate facilities while also preventing health care fraud. The Sober Home Fraud Detection Act was also included in the opioids package.
“Too many Americans suffering from the opioid crisis are exploited by illicit actors seeking to make a profit from addiction,” Rubio said. “My provision in this opioid package is vital in stopping the cash flow for patient brokers involved with illicit sober homes and treatment facilities, an issue that has long plagued South Florida and cost too many lives. I thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for their help in securing this important provision, and I look forward to its passage in the overall opioid package so that we can begin to take real steps toward solving the opioid crisis.”
“It is critical that our federal partners have the tools available to assist local efforts to combat the fraud and abuse that has plagued the legitimate treatment industry. We appreciate the support from Senators Rubio and Klobuchar to empower federal prosecutors to go after corrupt kickbacks to patient brokers,” said Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, who leads the Sober Homes Task Force in South Florida and brought the issue of patient brokering to Senator Rubio’s attention.
“As the leading non-profit provider of addiction treatment in the country, we are grateful to Senators Rubio and Klobuchar for addressing the unethical practice of patient brokering,” said Mark Mishek, President and CEO of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. “No other area of healthcare allows patient leads to be bought and sold, and the addiction treatment industry should be no exception. Far too many vulnerable people and families suffering from substance use disorder are being harmed by unethical marketing and business practices that turn patients into commodities. This provision of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act takes important steps to help ensure quality, ethical care for all who seek addiction treatment.”