The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) of Florida, a non-profit mental health watchdog dedicated to the eradication of [abuses](http://www.cchrflorida.org/report-psychiatric-abuse/) committed under the guise of mental health, is asking for whistleblowers to come forward on Medicaid fraud in Florida.
As a mental health watchdog organization, CCHR receives numerous reports, through its investigations and otherwise, of alleged abuse or fraud committed within mental health facilities, including psychiatric and behavioral facilities serving minors resulting in hundreds of complaints being filed with state agencies.
Recently CCHR has seen an increase in the number of individuals alleging that their child was improperly detained under the Florida Baker Act and that their Medicaid insurance was improperly billed for services that they did not receive or which were not medically necessary.
Claims of verbal coercion or threatening language being used by facility staff implying that a child would be further detained if the parent did not sign insurance forms have been reported.
We are receiving complaints from parents that they are being told that they have no [parental rights](http://www.cchrflorida.org/baker-act-rights/) when their child is Baker Acted and this is a lie, stated Diane Stein, President CCHR Florida. We are talking of situations involving children as young as 5 years-old for which there is no evidence of abuse or neglect or any DCF involvement.
As a result, CCHR is asking for anyone employed in the mental health profession, families of people who have suffered abuse in a psychiatric facility or any staff or former staff of such facilities with knowledge of healthcare fraud or psychiatric abuse to please contact CCHR with full particulars and any documentary evidence at 727-442-8820 or online at www.cchrflorida.org.
About CCHR:
Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHRs mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections.
It was L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who brought the terror of psychiatric imprisonment to the notice of the world. In March 1969, he said, Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the free world tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of mental health.
