government
Terminated Medicare insurer starts paying claims
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 26, 2010
Fox Insurance Co. agreed July 19 to wire $13.6 million in overdue payments for Medicare prescription drug claims to the administrators of ProCare Pharmacy Benefit Management Inc., according to a statement from the National Community Pharmacists Assn.
Fox Insurance still owes additional millions in unpaid insurance claims and is promising to fulfill its remaining obligations, NCPA said. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced March 9 that it had terminated its contract with Fox Insurance due to a series of violations by the firm, including improperly denying its enrollees coverage of HIV, cancer and seizure medications.
The Fox plan was available in 21 states, including Arizona, California, New York and Texas. "Even though CMS terminated its Part D contract, Fox had a responsibility to honor these claims," said Douglas Hoey, NCPA's acting executive vice president and CEO. "Community pharmacies and ProCare ... were left holding the bag, which is now being rectified with the first wave of payments being sent out."
Contact information for Fox Insurance Co. was not available.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/07/26/gvbf0726.htm.
