After years of failed treatments, this psych program finally worked. Now her family owes $1 million.

Larry and Kandy Levasseur with their younger daughter, Ellie, left. The Levasseurs owe more than $1 million for the cost of psychiatric care for their older daughter, Rachel.Maansi Srivastava for NBC NewsCost of DenialAfter years of failed treatments, this psych program finally worked. Now her family owes $1 million.The Levasseurs took out a second mortgage on their home and drained their savings, desperate to keep their older daughter in treatment. ShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 9, 2026, 6:30 PM EDTBy Aria Bendix, Jason Kane and Kate SnowIt took seven years for Rachel Levasseur to find a treatment that worked for a complex form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, which creates the persistent belief that she’s a harm to others. In the interim, she attempted suicide numerous times.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Things changed last year when Levasseur’s parents reached out to a therapist at Sheppard Pratt, a psychiatric hospital in Maryland. The hospital’s self-pay, residential treatment program — called The Retreat — connects patients to a personalized care team of psychiatrists and therapists, among other providers.After a year in the program, Levasseur, 24, noticed she was improving. She had not attempted suicide while being there. Her parents said she went from quiet and closed off to increasingly social. She was finally willing to go out to dinner or to a concert with a friend. But Levasseur’s insurance provider, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, has only paid for a small share of her treatment thus far, and her stay in the program was cut short in March after her parents couldn’t afford the nearly $3,000 per day cost.“It’s just confusing how insurance can’t recognize that I am getting better finally,” Levasseur said. “They’re just focused on the money instead of my life.”Ellie Levasseur works with her parents on resolving insurance claim issues with her sister’s treatment.Maansi Srivastava for NBC...