Posted in #Medicare, #Medicareadvantage, #reimbursement, EmblemHealth NY, NY Providers, Payer Updates, Pharmacy (Various Insurance Payers), Training

Emblem Health new Specialty Meds/Pharmacy Policy

Effective 7/14/25 there is a new specialty pharmacy policy will apply to all of Emblem Health lines of busines: commercial, Medicare, medicaid.

Image via emblemhealth

This policy applies to all outpatient providers in the following place of service: outpatient hospital, physician office,home of the member and ambulatory infusion.


Takeaways:

1. According to this policy the providers need to contact the respective specialty pharmacy to request prior auth and are only allowed to bill for specialty medications administration NOT the medication itself.

2. The Specialty Pharmacy will be allowed to bill Emblem health under the member’s medical benefit and receive reimbursement.

Image via EmblemHealth

3. For any Medicaid EmblemHealth plan- the medicatin codes must be on Medicaid Fee Schedule. If the code is not listed it will not be reimbursed.


Exclusion: this policy does not apply to home infusion providers.


For a full list of specialty medications please visit Emblem Health for more information and a PDF version of the policy


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Posted in #unitedhealthcare, Payer Updates, Prior Authorization Insurance Carrier Updates, Training

UHC Colorado: Rocky Mountain Health Plan-BH prior auth updates

If you are a provider that accepts the following Rocky Mountain Health Plan types, then this blog post is for you:

  1. D-SNP: dual eligible special needs plan
  2. Child Health Plus
  3. Medicare Advantage
  4. Individual and Family plans
  5. Medicaid: RAE/PRIME

The following update will take affect for any DOS 7/1/25 and thereafter:

1.HCPCs – H2033, T2022- Multisystemic Therapy (MST), Enhanced MST: Requires pre-service notification, authorization necessary for services provided more than 90 days

2.H0036, T2022-Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Enhanced FFT: Requires pre-service notification, authorization necessary for services provided more than 90 days

3. G0137, H0015, Rev code 906- Substance use disorder intensive outpatient programming (SUD IOP): Requires pre-service notification, authorization necessary for services greater than 15 sessions

4. HCPCs code S9480, Rev code 905-Behavioral health intensive outpatient programming (BH IOP): Requires pre-service notification, authorization necessary for services greater than 15 sessions

5. Rev. code 0911-Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF): Requires prior authorization

6.H0019-Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF): Requires prior authorization

8. CPT codes: 6132, 96133, 96136, 96137, 96138, 96139, 96146, 96130, 96131-Neuropsychological and psychological testing (and related codes): Requires prior authorization

7. H0017- All services associated with H0017, including Acute Treatment Unit (ATU): Requires prior authorization

9. CPT codes- 96116, 96121- Neurobehavioral status exam: Requires prior authorization

To access the full list of codes, please click here: https://www.uhcprovider.com/en/prior-auth-advance-notification/adv-notification-plan-reqs.html and find the BH section


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Posted in #reimbursement, #unitedhealthcare, NY Providers, Training

NYS UHC Community Plan: which services require a referral?

With the uncertainty increasing in the Healthcare industry it is imperative to keep yourself updated on which plans require referrals from PCPs to see a specialty.


UHC Community Plan members might not require referrals for all of their specialists but some still do:

  • Allergy and immunology
  • Dermatology
  • Endocrinology
  • Gastroenterology
  • General surgery
  • Neurological surgery
  • Orthopedic surgery
  • Otolaryngology
  • Physical medicine and rehabilitation/physiatry
  • Plastic surgery
  • Podiatry
  • Pulmonary medicine
  • Sports medicine
  • Urology
  • Vascular surgery

Please make sure that the PCP goes on the https://www.uhcprovider.com/ and uses the referral solution in the Provider Portal to create a referral in order to avoid any unnecessary denials.


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