Veterans’ Private Residential Treatment Must Match VA’s Quality and Cost

Last April, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) secured a $19.75 million fraud settlement with Seabrook, a major addiction treatment center in New Jersey. Between 2022 and 2024, Seabrook allegedly misrepresented its offerings, falsified its records and provided services by staff who were unqualified to treat patients with these disorders.

The facility's laundry list of misdeeds reveals a troubling, deeper reality: Unscrupulous, predatory facilities are brazenly exploiting vulnerable veterans in need of mental health and substance use disorder treatment while defrauding American taxpayers. These profound failures alone should be a wakeup call to Congress.

This week brought further troubling developments when the VA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a scathing report revealing widespread exploitation of the department by residential treatment programs.

In a new piece for Military.com VHPI Senior Policy Russell Lemle looks into Seabrook’s misdeeds, and the broader problem with outsourcing veterans care to the private sector.

Read his full piece here.