A US senator is questioning the methadone clinic practices of one of America’s largest opioid treatment chains. New Season, which runs facilities across 32 US states including four in New Hampshire, faces allegations of charging patients unlawful fees, pushing unnecessary treatment programmes, and falsifying therapy records. The company has not responded to requests for comment.

Senator Maggie Hassan sent the letter as the ranking member of a Senate Finance subcommittee. Her team spoke with current and former employees as well as patients at New Season’s clinics in Manchester, Concord, Franklin, and Swanzey. New Season is the largest single provider of methadone to clinical patients in the state.

Methadone Clinic Practices: Patients Charged Fees Already Covered by Medicare

Federal and state rules require patients to undergo regular drug screening to continue receiving methadone. When an initial test returns positive, staff order a confirmation test to rule out a false result. Both tests are covered by Medicaid and Medicare. Despite this, Hassan’s letter states that New Season charges patients a $35 out-of-pocket fee to contest a result.

For most people, $35 seems modest. For someone in early recovery, often without stable income, it can feel insurmountable.

One former employee told Hassan’s team directly: “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.”

Another was just as blunt: “That is a devastating amount of money for somebody early in recovery.”

Hassan’s team also found problems with the third-party laboratory New Season uses for screening. Whistleblowers reported waves of false positive results, which adds another layer of concern to how these opioid addiction treatment clinics handle patient data.

Opioid Addiction Treatment Clinics Pushing Programmes Patients Do Not Need

New Season allegedly pushes patients into intensive outpatient programmes, known as IOP, regardless of clinical need. These programmes require nine hours of therapy per week. Medicare and Medicaid reimburse them at significantly higher rates than standard care. That gap creates a clear financial incentive for opioid addiction treatment clinics to enrol patients whether they need it or not.

One former employee described the instruction he received from management plainly: “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.”

The scale of the problem is hard to overstate. Drug overdoses killed nearly 79,400 Americans in 2024, including close to 300 New Hampshire residents. Yet only around 25 per cent of Americans with opioid addiction currently receive medication-assisted treatment, the recognised gold standard. When people have poor experiences, they leave. That has real consequences.

Falsified Records and Staffing Gaps

New Season’s methadone clinic practices, as described in the letter, also raise questions about record-keeping. The company reportedly faces staffing shortages. Rather than fix them, staff allegedly conduct 15-minute therapy sessions but log them as hour-long appointments in official records.

That matters for patient welfare. It also matters for billing. If these records inform what clinics claim from Medicaid and Medicare, the implications extend beyond individual patients to the integrity of public health funding.

Methadone Clinic Practices: A Doctor’s Note Requirement That Stands Alone

Hassan highlights a policy at New Season’s Concord location requiring patients to bring a note from a primary care physician before staff issue methadone in tablet form. New Hampshire law does not require this. The policy also includes no exception for patients without a GP.

Tablet methadone serves a clear medical purpose. Some patients cannot tolerate the liquid form because of digestive conditions or allergic reactions. While tablets have historically raised concerns about diversion to the black market, Hassan argues that current federal safeguards address that risk. Placing extra barriers in front of patients who simply need a different formulation is difficult to justify on clinical grounds.

What Comes Next

Hassan has asked New Season to provide supporting documents and answer a formal list of questions by 14 May. The company has not responded publicly.

These allegations are serious. They point to a pattern of methadone clinic practices that prioritise revenue over the people these clinics exist to serve. People in recovery deserve treatment that puts their health first, every time.

Source: dbrecoveryresources