RA Messages for February 2, 2010

PHARMACY PROVIDERS, PLEASE NOTE!!!

If you are unsure about the coverage of a drug product, please contact the PBM help desk at 1-800-648-0790.

Detailed LMAC and FUL changes are posted on www.lamedicaid.com.

Please file adjustments for claims that may have been incorrectly paid. Only those products of the manufacturers which participate in the Federal Rebate Program will be covered by the Medicaid program. Participation may be verified in Appendix C, available at www.lamedicaid.com. 

TAKE CHARGE FAMILY PLANNING WAIVER COVERAGE
CLAIMS PAID IN ERROR TO BE VOIDED

The TAKE CHARGE Family Planning Waiver Program has coverage limited to specific services/provider types, including physician services, outpatient hospital services, and pharmacy services. We have learned that claims for programs other than those covered (i.e., inpatient hospital, home health, DME, and transportation) were paid in error for these recipients. The logic for processing claims for the TAKE CHARGE Program has been changed and two new edits activated to deny claims billed by providers not covered by this program. The edits are: Edit 544 = CLAIM TYPE/FORMAT NOT COVERED BY THE FPW PROGRAM, and Edit 541 = INPATIENT SERVICES ARE NOT COVERED BY THE FPW PROGRAM. Claims paid in error will be voided on the RA of January 19, 2010. We continue to strongly encourage providers to check recipient eligibility to confirm eligibility and any coverage restrictions the recipient you are seeing may have.

ATTENTION LAB & RADIOLOGY (NON-HOSPITAL) PROVIDERS
SYSTEMATIC CLAIMS ADJUSTMENT FOR DELAYED RATE REDUCTIONS

Lab & radiology claims impacted by the rate changes effective August 4, 2009, are being systematically adjusted for claims that were paid incorrectly as a result of a delay in implementation. Due to the large claims volume, the recycle will occur over two weeks in numerical order by billing provider number with the RA's of January 26, 2010 (Claim ICN range of 0010222000100 - 0010283739200) and February 2, 2010 (Claim ICN range of 0017222000100 - 0017272663000). Adjusted claims for each billing provider will appear on only one of the RA's. No action is necessary by providers. Please monitor your RA's to determine which date your claims were recycled.

ATTENTION ALL PROVIDERS WHO USE THE SPEND-DOWN
MEDICALLY NEEDY NOTICE (110-MNP)

The new fillable form, "Provider Request for Spend-Down Medically Needy Notice," can now be used to request initial or amended "Spend-Down Medically Needy Notices" (110MNP) for one or multiple Medicaid recipients. This form is intended to alleviate the need to call Medicaid to request the 110-MNP. This form can be faxed to Medicaid Eligibility and should be processed within a week of submission. Providers still have the option to request 110-MNP's by telephone. If you have any questions, feel free to call Lesli Boudreaux, Program Manager, at 225-219-1783. The form is titled "Provider Request for Spend-Down Medically Needy Notice" and can be found on the Forms page of the Medicaid Provider website at www.lamedicaid.com in the section titled, "Online Forms or Files."

ATTENTION MULTI-SYSTEMIC THERAPY PROVIDERS

Effective with dates of service on or after January 22, 2010, the reimbursement rates for multi-systemic therapy are reduced by 5% of the fee amount on file as of January 21, 2010.

Effective January 22, 2010, MST services in excess of 244 units per recipient shall require prior authorization. Proof of medical necessity must be submitted to the Medicaid Behavioral Health Section (MBHS) Service Access and Authorization (SAA) unit in accordance with the new BHSF guidelines. Please refer to the Medicaid Director letter dated January 22, 2010, for the form and instructions on completing an override request.

ATTENTION MENTAL HEALTH REHABILITATION PROVIDERS

Effective with dates of service on or after January 22, 2010, the reimbursement rates of multi-systemic therapy are reduced by 1.62% of the fee amount on file as of January 21, 2010.

Effective January 22, 2010, the number of units prior authorized for Parent Family Intervention Intensive (PFII) services will be reduced to 180 units for the first quarter and 64 units for the second quarter.

Effective for services authorized on or after January 22, 2010, Medication Management services must be billed as a single contact, and only one contact is permitted on a single date of service at the current reimbursement rate of $47.90 per contact. Please refer to the Medicaid Director letter dated January 22, 2010, for further information regarding these changes in the MHR program.

IMPORTANT NOTICE CONCERNING MEDICARE CROSSOVER CLAIMS

CMS recently issued a reminder to all providers, physicians, and suppliers to allow sufficient time for the Medicare crossover process to work before attempting to bill the patients' supplemental insurers (including Medicaid). Medicare recommends waiting approximately 15 work days after Medicare's reimbursement is made. Medicare indicates to providers on the Medicare Remittance Advice their intention to cross the patients' claims over and issues notifications if claims targeted for crossover do not actually result in successful crossover transmissions. Medicaid processes many duplicate paper crossover claims because providers do not allow sufficient time for the automated Medicare process to be completed prior to submitting a paper claim. Medicaid recommends waiting 15-20 work days before submitting a paper crossover claim. Please do not submit a claim to Medicaid until you have allowed ample time for claims processed by Medicare to cross electronically to Medicaid.

IMPORTANT CHANGE FOR CROSSOVER CLAIMS SUBMISSION

DHH is pleased to inform providers who submit Medicare crossover claims to Medicaid that we are in the process of making the necessary changes in the Medicaid systems and programming logic to allow providers to submit electronic Medicare crossover claims to Medicaid in circumstances where Medicare claims DO NOT cross electronically from Medicare to Medicaid. Once this change is implemented, providers must continue to wait the appropriate time as indicated above before submitting crossover claims electronically, in order to prevent duplicate claim submission. You should discuss this change with your EDI vendor if you are interested in pursuing this option. Please continue to monitor the LA Medicaid website, www.lamedicaid.com, and RA messages for the implementation date of this change and related information.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL ORDERING AND RENDERING PROVIDERS OF
HIGH-TECH RADIOLOGY SERVICES

Effective February 15, 2010, Louisiana Medicaid will implement Radiology Utilization Management (RUM) to promote the health of Medicaid recipients by ensuring appropriate utilization of Department-defined high-tech imaging studies by Medicaid providers and recipients. Medicaid will partner with MedSolutions Inc. (MSI), to provide prior authorization, monitoring and management of medical imaging services. Primary care and specialty care providers will be required to request prior authorization for non-emergency outpatient Magnetic Resonance (MR), Computed Tomography (CT), and Nuclear Cardiac imaging.

Reimbursement to the rendering provider will be contingent on prior authorization. MedSolutions will begin taking authorization requests from ordering physicians on February 15, 2010, for services provided on or after that date. For tests scheduled to be performed from 2/15 to 2/20, we understand that you may not have time to obtain a prior authorization prior to service performance. Allowances will be made to ensure you and your patient are not penalized for the delay in the launch of the program.

Providers should monitor the Medicaid website, www.lamedicaid.com, AND the MedSolutions website, www.medsolutions.com/implementation/ladhh/index.html, for the most up-to-date information regarding this program, for the schedule and registration for orientation webinars for this implementation, and for contact information.

ATTENTION MENTAL HEALTH CLINIC (MHC) PROVIDERS

Due to a claims processing error, some duplicate Mental Health Clinic claims were paid in the past. All duplicate claims paid from 7/21/09 to 1/12/10 are being voided on the 2/2/10 RA. We regret any inconvenience this processing error may have caused. Please contact Unisys Provider Relations if you have any questions. No provider action is necessary.

ATTENTION MENTAL HEALTH CLINIC (MHC) PROVIDERS

While implementing logic for a new program, some claims were allowed to pay for procedures that conflicted with another procedure performed on the same day. The conflicted claims paid from 9/15/09 to 12/15/09 are being voided on the 2/2/10 RA. We regret any inconvenience this processing error may have caused. Please contact Unisys Provider Relations if you have any questions. No provider action is necessary.