To fully appreciate the money flowing into addiction treatment, consider the size of the bill Tara Richards ran up during a five-month attempt to achieve sobriety at a rehab center in San Clemente — $416,050.
Richards, of Maple Valley, Washington, came to Sovereign Health for help in July of 2014, according to court documents. She had private insurance – Regence Blue Shield – and signed forms agreeing to residential mental health treatment costing $3,410 per day. That care – plus 15 urine tests at $1,200 a pop – brought Richards' bill to $123,000 for her first month of treatment.
