Michael's House Retreat

While researching rehab facilities for my son who has an alcohol drinking problem I ran across several which accepted our Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance. Most did not cover 100% and were perfectly willing and honest to divulge what the “out of pocket” balance would be. We were delighted when the admissions office at Foundations Recovery Network who owns Michaels House in Palm Springs CA reported back that our insurance would cover 100% minus the deductable. After further study of the ingenious and flamboyant display of positive reviews masterly placed in all the right places on the web, my wife and I decided to fly from the Southeast US to Palm Springs CA to visit the facility. We liked what we saw and heard about the program and enjoyed meeting the staff and the tour. We do feel that Michaels House is a good facility and gives quality care to the patients….but, be careful! There are some serious administration issues which are related to insurance acceptance. With only a week and a half remaining in our son’s stay at Michaels House we began to get phone calls that our insurance did not cover certain things, in fact, the insurance covered very little and if our bill of $18,500 was not paid, our son would be put out on the street. The timing was precise with our scheduled Family Weekend visit which we informed them that we would be attending. After several days on the phone with our insurance company we discovered that there was a multitude of filing errors on behalf of Michaels House. Every phone call, dates and document copies were made available to us by the insurance company to show evidence of the short fallings from Michaels House. We made an appointment with the person in charge of the insurance at Michaels House while visiting our son on a Friday afternoon. After showing her our notes from the insurance company she said she would look into some fashion of scholarship funding but would be back in touch with us on Tuesday after our return home. We also learned that the person who filed insurance for Michaels House was no longer employed there. On Monday night, while looking for our vehicle in the airport parking lot, we received a frantic phone call from our son who had been approached by the same staff member we had spoken with and were expecting a call from tomorrow. She had informed our son that he would be expelled tomorrow if she did not get his payment in full of $18,500.00 To end this long story, we were “strong armed” in to depleting our Health Savings Account, over the phone, with the threat of putting our son out on the street on the other side of the country. Be very careful while dealing with Foundations Recovery Network and Michaels House.

not as pictured the dr is not friendly or helpful they quote you one price then charge another i do not suggest this program for anyone