Collection Agency Demands Repayment of Analgesics From Hospices

Prior authorization for all Part D Drugs became effective on May 1, 2014.   Some hospice are now receiving collection letters from PRS, a debt collection company, that is requesting hospices to pay for pain medications that were paid for under the Hospice Part A Benefit, but that should have been paid under Medicare Part D.  We learned from several sources that hospice have received these letters for claims that occurred in 2011 and 2012.  The Hospice Association of America, and affiliate of the National Association of Home Care has already begun an investigation. .

Hospice have thirty days from receipt of the collection letter to dispute the debt.  There are currently no formal appeals process just a dispute process.  Remember the hospice may or may not be responsible for these medications.  This will depend on if the medications were related to terminal condition. 

If you receive one of these letters please let us know.  You may want to contact the Home Health Association of America or the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.   We will provide more information on this as it becomes available in a future Email Blast.

Make sure you join us for our “Understanding the Proposed Hospice Payment Rates FY 2015 and Proposed Rules” webinar on June 19^th from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

http://www.dixonhsi.com/Hospice-Webinar.html