Today, Senator Thomas J. Umberg (D-Santa Ana) announced that his package of three bills seeking to address fraud and abuse in California’s substance use disorder treatment system have all advanced through their numerous and respective policy committees in the Senate.  

“It’s time to put an end to the rampant body brokering practices and other failures that exist within California’s substance use disorder (SUD) treatment framework.  Families in crisis deserve better,” said Senator Umberg, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  “Together, these measures can hopefully help to change the tide for the thousands of people who put their trust in our hands as they work to detox from drugs and alcohol and put their lives back together.”

The three measures are:

• Senate Bill 35 protects California’s vulnerable SUD population and its families by implementing statewide timelines and a local role to the mechanism by which facilities are held accountable when complaints are made by consumers.
• Senate Bill 43 requires that addiction treatment programs and group advertising entities follow the same rules currently required for chiropractors, marriage family therapists, and dentists. These businesses can only advertise as individual business entities or with a group advertiser registered with their respective professional boards. In these health markets, consumers are protected from false advertisers, internet trolling that siphons people off to the highest bidder, and connections to incompetent and unethical marketing representatives.
• Senate Bill 83 expands information that must be disclosed to the public by the California Department of Health Care Services about complaints and facility license suspensions and revocations on their website. 

Southern California’s “Rehab Riviera” is well known to be an area in which a network of rehab facilities exist in a quasi-medical realm where evidence-based care is rare, licensed medical staffers are optional, conflicts of interest are rampant, and regulation is stunningly lax. Senator Umberg's three measures directly address these pressing issues by adding local enforcement mechanisms and transparency for patients and families.

“The public deserves the right to transparency when choosing treatment for a loved one,” said Senator Umberg. “They need to know if a provider is licensed for clinical treatment, to whom they can make complaints or inquiries, and whether their insurance dollars are being used appropriately.”

SB 35 passed the Senate Health Committee last week by a vote of 11-0 and the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday on a unanimous vote.

SB 43 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously, as well. 

SB 83 passed the Senate Health Committee last week by a vote of 11-0.

All three measures are now awaiting consideration by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Senator Thomas Umberg represents the 34th Senate District which includes the cities of Santa Ana, Anaheim, Long Beach, Fullerton, 

Orange, La Habra, Placentia, South Whittier, and East Whittier. Umberg is a retired U.S. Army Colonel, and former federal prosecutor.

He and his wife, Brigadier General Robin Umberg, USA (ret.), lives in Orange County.