Roughly a year ago I started going to WCMHCC for help in treating my dependence on painkillers. Places like this specialize in prescribing a certain kind of medicine for opoid addiction called Suboxone, which helps curb withdrawl effects and cravings. Not just any doctor can prescribe this medication, you must be an addiction specialist, so it can be extremely difficult to find a doctor who treats patients with dependance issues.
I was referred there by the Suboxone website, and upon calling them, it seemed as if they genuinely cared about my recovery and wanted to help. I gave them my insurance info and they told me they could see me the next day. Nothing seemed amiss after the first appointment, but it's what has followed that has been extremely discomforting.
This places charges rediculous amounts of money for their "care, " which includes frequent drug testing (which is normal), psychiatric counseling every two weeks, and a doctors visit to get the medicine as required. Because they know their patients are addicts and will pretty much do whatever it takes to get better, they insist on seeing you as often as possible. When you can't accomodate to their schedule, they question your dedication or even accuse you of relapsing and demand that you make another appointment ASAP.
On at least one instance, I had a death in the family and needed to switch my appointment. They had made me aware of their 24-hour cancellation policy, which is normal at any doctor. I called early in the morning the day before my appointment and they charged me $150 for not giving 24 hour notice, even though it was actually 30 hours notice. Their definition of 24-hour is obviously different from the rest of the worlds, and it took me over six months for them to eventually drop the charge.
On top of that, their billing department is extremely shady. On numerous occasions I have received bills late and in the past month, I have changed health insurance companies. For almost a month, they were billing the wrong insurance company, even though I had given them my new information and made it clear that I had switched. When they weren't receiving payments, they threatened to kick me out of the program despite the fact that it was their error, not mine. Everytime I've gone in for an appoitment a different dollar amount has been on my bill, which leads me to believe that they are either cooking the books or have no idea how to perform simple accounting tasks.
Another time I had some of my medication stolen from a local YMCA, and I called in to see if they would prescribe me a few extra pills to hold me over until my next appointment. They did it, but weeks later, I discovered a $50 charge for having the doctor call it in. Not once was this explained to me by anyone, and I am currently fighting the charge as I type this.
All this place cares about is money, and they prey on those in need because they know that you want to get better and will theoretically do "whatever it takes" to get better. Do not send your child there or yourself, because you'll end up having to take out a second mortgage in order to pay for everything. WCMHCC takes advantage of you when you're at your weakest point and takes you for all your worth, and they have no results to prove that they actually work.
Believe me when I say that there is nothing worse than opiate addiction, but this has honestly been almost a bigger nightmare. I cannot stress enough that you need to stay away from these people; they don't care about your well-being, they only care about getting paid, and they are no different from the drug pushing doctors that they claim to despise. I haven't touched opiates in over a year, but that has absolutely nothing to do with their care. I knew I wanted to quit, but needed the assistance of medication in order to help me stop. That's all I ever needed, but this place makes sure you drop at least $300 per appointment before you even get to see the doctor.
Bottom line, there are better places to get treatment than WCMHCC. Do not trust your recovery with them, they are corrupt and care little about their patients.
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