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No Medicaid patients for detox center

Braking Point targeted in raids

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WARREN — Braking Point Recovery Center in Austintown can no longer provide treatment to patients on Medicaid under a decision by the state made the same day federal and other agents searched its Austintown and Columbus locations and the home of its owner.

The Medicaid provider agreement was suspended Wednesday under Ohio law that requires the Ohio Department of Medicaid to halt payments on “determining there is a credible allegation of fraud for which an investigation is pending under the Medicaid program against a Medicaid provider,” according to an email from a spokeswoman with the state office.

Medicaid clients of the recovery center, meanwhile, have been told by the state to seek service elsewhere, and were given instructions to help them in doing so.

April Caraway, executive director of the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board, said the agency pays for services for indigent clients, not Medicaid, so she would not be privy to whether or how many local residents are affected by the stop in Medicaid payments.

The board’s counterpart in Mahoning County has reached out for help to see if there are detoxification beds available in Trumbull County, Caraway said.

“We’re trying to get them into whatever service they can get into,” she said.

Eric R. Wandersleben, director of media relations and outreach with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, said the agency has been coordinating with the board in Mahoning County to place impacted individuals elsewhere, like Neil Kennedy Recovery Center, which has taken on several patients who were receiving detoxification at Braking Point.

“We are closely monitoring developments concerning Braking Point … ,” Wandersleben said in a email. “We are diligently working with our local mental health and addiction services boards and providers to ensure that all affected patients have uninterrupted access to vital treatment and recovery support services. The department has had staff on the ground to assist clients in finding care elsewhere in an effort to promote continuity of care and ensure a seamless transition.”

More than 100 agents from the FBI and other agencies on Wednesday searched Braking Point facilities in Austintown and Columbus, and the home of Braking Point owner Ryan Sheridan in Leetonia. There were no arrests.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the IRS, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Ohio Pharmacy Board are all involved.

An after hours message was left Friday with Friedman & Rummell Co., L.P.A., attorney for Braking Point.

rselak@tribtoday.com

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