While the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency officially ended on May 11, 2023, the 12th Amendment of the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP) was extended until December 31, 2029. This allows pharmacies to continue dispensing OTC COVID-19 tests to patients without a prescription. Many state Medicaid and commercial insurance plans continue to cover this […]
PAAS National®® analysts continue to see pharmacies fall victim to Caremark’s Aberrant Practices and Trends enforcement.
GLP-1 medications continue to come under scrutiny from PBM auditors for several reasons. High cost, off-label use, rising utilization, and billing irregularities make these easy audit targets. Pharmacies must remain diligent to ensure accuracy and appropriateness when dispensing these medications to avoid recoupments. The latest in audit recoupments have come from…
Traditional dispensing for independent pharmacies continues to transform. Beyond dispensing prescriptions at the pharmacy counter, some pharmacies are providing patient-specific prescriptions directly to clinics for administration. Pharmacies must be aware and protect themselves from the heightened audit risks. While PAAS National®® has written countless Newsline articles on signature, delivery, and mailing requirements to help our […]
Migraine medications continue to be targeted for audit by all PBMs. With new products on the market, rising costs, and frequency of refills, PBMs are looking for billing errors to claw back payments on audit. OptumRx’s latest tactic…
Pharmacies often struggle with patients not picking up prescriptions on a timely basis. The lag time could be caused by several reasons – cost concerns, transportation issues, mental health factors, or miscommunication are just a few of the possibilities. While pharmacies are sympathetic to patient situations, it is prudent to be aware of the consequences […]
Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) is a program for patients that have Medicare Parts A and B coverage and qualify for additional coverage through Medicaid.
Pharmacies billing insulin vials for eligible Medicare patients must pay extra attention to ensure proper coverage. Since the frequency of dispensing insulin vials has greatly decreased due to the introduction of insulin pens, it is very important pharmacies take a pause and investigate how the patient is utilizing the insulin vials. Medicare covers insulin vials […]
Pharmacy practice often revolves around meeting tight deadlines. Prioritizing can become challenging when you’re focused on providing prompt service to waiting patients or rushing to meet inventory ordering deadlines, all while managing your daily tasks. It’s tempting to push aside a PBM audit request, or its results, to tackle more immediate responsibilities. Unfortunately, neglecting audit […]
This month’s article will wrap up the 2024-2025 Self-Audit Series. Our focus for this article is electronic prescriptions and their potential audit risks. Electronic prescriptions have solved some problems (e.g., indecipherable handwriting), but have also created new problems. By focusing on the following tips when reviewing your electronic prescriptions, you can help prevent significant recoupments. […]
