This story was originally produced by the New Hampshire Bulletin, an independent local newsroom that allows NHPR and other outlets to republish its reporting.
U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan this week accused a national chain of opioid addiction clinics with multiple locations in New Hampshire of improper business practices that undermine the quality of care in pursuit of profit.
In a letter to New Season obtained by the Bulletin, Hassan wrote that her team has conducted interviews with several employees and clients of the clinic that reveal a number of “troubling allegations” about the clinics’ practices.
New Season is the largest provider of methadone — a medication used to treat addiction — to clinical patients in New Hampshire. The company is headquartered in Florida and operates clinics in Manchester, Concord, Franklin, and Swanzey, with locations in 31 other U.S. states. New Season did not respond to the Bulletin’s request for comment.
“Drug overdoses killed nearly 79,400 Americans in 2024 — and nearly 300 New Hampshire residents — yet only 25 percent of Americans with opioid addiction receive medication assisted treatment, the gold standard for opioid addiction treatment,” Hassan wrote in the letter.
Drug screening allegations
Federal and state regulations require patients to be regularly tested for illicit drugs in order to receive methadone. Patients who consistently test negative are given more flexibility in treatment, including the ability to take doses at home rather than in clinics.
When a patient tests positive, a follow-up confirmation test is typically ordered to ensure it wasn’t a false positive or faulty test. Both the initial and the confirmation tests are covered by Medicaid and Medicare, the country’s public health programs for low-income people and senior citizens. However, Hassan wrote that based on her investigative team’s interviews with whistleblowers, New Season is also charging patients a $35 out-of-pocket fee.
One unnamed former New Season employee cited in the letter reportedly told Hassan’s staff: “I was always told that whatever the test came back, that’s what it is, and if [patients] want to challenge it, they have to pay $35.”
“That’s not a lot of money to me, and maybe it’s not a lot of money to you, but that is a devastating amount of money for … somebody early in recovery,” another said, according to the letter.
The tests are supposed to be included in what Medicaid/Medicare pays New Season for the patient care, yet the company is still charging patients directly, according to the letter.
Hassan wrote that her team has also learned about issues with a drug screening lab New Season works with regarding waves of false positives.
Pushing patients into more intensive program
Hassan’s letter, which she sent as the ranking member of a Senate Finance subcommittee, also accuses New Season of pushing patients into intensive outpatient programs — a more comprehensive type of care program — even when it’s not the right option for the patient. These treatment plans involve patients coming into the clinic for nine hours of therapy every week, and experts say they’re not necessary for all patients. Medicaid and Medicare will pay clinics higher rates for providing this treatment, providing a potential financial incentive.
According to the letter, one former New Season employee said his managers instructed him that: “Everyone coming in for an intake should be told they’ll be doing nine hours of IOP a week. Don’t ask them if they want to do IOP, volun-tell them.”
Hassan wrote that New Season is pursuing intensive outpatient programs despite the fact that the clinics have staffing shortages. To sidestep those shortages, New Season employees are doing 15-minute therapy sessions but logging them as hourlong sessions in the clinics’ records, the letter states.
Liquid methadone over tablet methadone
Hassan wrote that her Senate subcommittee had obtained a policy showing that New Season is requiring patients at its Concord location to provide a note from a primary care physician in order to receive methadone in tablet form. New Season is not required by state law to do so. As written, New Season’s policy does not include exceptions for patients without a primary care doctor, Hassan wrote.
The tablet form of methadone helps patients who have digestive or allergy-related issues with liquid methadone. Tablet methadone has historically been considered to be more easily sold on the black market than liquid form, which could explain the clinic’s aversion to providing tablets. However, Hassan argues that current federal safeguard policies are effective at preventing black market sales.
Hassan closes her letter with a request that New Season provide several documents and respond to a series of questions by May 14.
This story was originally produced by the New Hampshire Bulletin, an independent local newsroom that allows NHPR and other outlets to republish its reporting.