CT family claims rehab center told man insurance wouldn’t cover stay. He went home and overdosed.

Told his health insurance would not cover a 30-day stay at High Watch Recovery Center, a man with substance use disorder and mental illness went home and later died of a drug overdose, according to a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the residential treatment center.The lawsuit alleges that High Watch not only was not correct in saying insurance would not cover Jamal Lifschultz’s stay, but that the center never checked with his insurance to verify coverage.Lifschultz, then 28, had “reached a point of crisis in his long struggle with substance use disorder and mental illness” while an inpatient at the Yale Psychiatric Hospital, according to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court in New Haven by Lawrence Lifschultz, administrator of his estate.Jamal Lifschultz had “struggled with alcoholism, substance addiction, depression, anxiety, and mood disorders during his adult life,” the suit states. He had been living with his parents since a relapse in 2020, and had been working remotely full time, attending therapy and taking medication for anxiety and depression, it states.However, in the week leading up to April 19, 2022, he had stopped taking his medication and was abusing alcohol and cannabis, it states. He was admitted to the hospital, where doctors suspected he may have suffered from bipolar disorder.While there, Lifschultz “expressed his strong desire” to receive long-term inpatient rehabilitation, according to the suit. His care team recommended High Watch, based in Kent, “the world’s first 12-Step treatment center,” according to its website.High Watch’s board includes John West, its chairman, who earned nine Tony Award nominations at age 26 and who has served as a location manager for James Bond films; and Barbara Broccoli, producer of nine Bond films.Lifschultz’s family arranged for him to be admitted to High Watch, “based on High Watch’s representations that Jamal was eligible for both treatment at High Watch and insurance coverage under his health insurance policy,” the suit states.However, on May 4, 2022, High Watch “falsely informed” the family that Lifschultz’s insurance would not cover his 30-day treatment and that he would have to pay the $22,350 cost out of pocket, the suit alleges.“As High Watch knew, its statement that Jamal’s insurance would not cover his treatment was false,” the complaint alleges.“Based on High Watch’s misrepresentations, Jamal was effectively denied treatment at High Watch and was discharged from the Yale Psychiatric Hospital to his family home where he lacked critical professional rehabilitative support,” the suit claims.It states that Lifschultz’s family continued to try to have him placed at High Watch until, on May 31, he died from a drug overdose at the family home.“High Watch’s negligent and fraudulent denial of care and misrepresentations concerning Jamal’s insurance coverage were substantial factors in Jamal’s tragic death,” the lawsuit claims.It claims that an admissions coordinator at High Watch told the Lifschultz family that “Anthem’s coverage required Jamal to be consistently drinking at least 48 hours prior to being admitted at High Watch or have substances in his system when admitted to the hospital.”However, it continues, the manager of behavioral health services at Anthem said the company had no such requirement and that High Watch allegedly never approached Anthem to authorize Lifschultz’s stay, which it would have authorized.The lawsuit claims negligent misrepresentation and fraudulent misrepresentation by High Watch, and negligent infliction of emotional distress by High Watch. It also is being filed under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.The Lifschultzes are being represented by Christopher Mattei and Skylar Albertson of Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder of Bridgeport.Paul Erickson of Howd & Ludorf of Wethersfield, who is representing High Watch, was asked for a comment on the lawsuit.Ed Stannard can be reached at estannard@courant.com.

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