Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by LordDragonfang 662 days ago
> Patients are unlikely to complain to insurance to tell them the treatment/confinement was unjustified... because the patient will then need to pay the bill.

Honestly, you buried the lede here. This is the horrifying and broken part. Under no circumstances should someone have to be afraid of paying for their involuntary commitment.
1 comments
hedora 662 days ago
Do the patients have to pay in that case?

Like is Acadia really going to sue so they can have the insurance company and the patient testify under oath that Acadia management is guilty of kidnapping at scale, and in this particular case?

link
castillar76 662 days ago
As someone who went through this with a child and Acadia’s competitor UHS, yes. Yes, they do. The number of parents in our support group who fought in court to get their kids or relatives out of one of these hospitals only to be presented with a back-breaking bill for their commitment is genuinely nauseating.

This is one of the prime examples of the utter failure of the US for-profit healthcare model.

link
amy-petrik-214 660 days ago
I wholeheartedly attest to this. I had to stay in an Acadia facility due to a bipolar flare-up. The bill was so bad... I think if I hadn't been in a better place, the bill would have sent me right back in!
link
hedora 659 days ago
The last time I checked, you can simply dispute a bill to get it off your credit report.

If they actually kidnapped you (as is apparently common practice there), I doubt they’d be dumb enough to sue you.

If they were, you can countersue in California, and the civil damages they owe you for kidnapping you will be deducted from whatever court judgement they win (probably making it negative).

link