Christmas Miracles Can Happen in Workers’ Compensation

December 23, 2016

For those of us who deal with MSAs, it’s all too common to see claims at settlement time that started out as basic and simple, then spiraled downward as a result of bad prescribing habits, increased drug use and opioid addiction.  We hope for a different ending, but can  miracles really happen?

Background

In late 2015, Tower completed a pharmacy project for a small employer in California.  In the course of the project, drug triggers were identified, physicians were contacted and claimants were challenged to settle or make changes in treatment.  As you might imagine, many of the physicians fought the request for change.  But through perseverance, and working in tandem with the client, we pushed forward.

The Story as Shared by our Client

Dear Hany,

A few weeks ago, I was looking over the  case for one of the California claimants and wanted to share the amazing results we have achieved with this gentleman.

This case involved a 26 year old man at time of injury. He sustained a minor back injury but was taking Hydrocodone, Testosterone, Celecoxib, Lyrica, Nortriptyline, Methocarbamol, and FENTANYL.  With the recommendations and assistance from the Tower MSA Partners team, as well as support from his wife, we were able to get him into a new treating physician who agreed with our goal. He was weaned off of the Fentanyl, Methocarbamol, testosterone, hydrocodone, and Celecoxib. He has even started an exercise program.  He is now both proud and happy to report how well he is doing.

The injured worker is now 51 years old and he sadly notes that he missed out on 25 years of his life and his children’s lives because he was so “drugged”.   On a positive note, however, his new treating physician has been wonderful to work with and we see only good things for this claimant.

On the financial side we have now realized a reduction in the monthly Rx spend from $1,200 per month down to $600.  The injured worker is now only taking Nortriptyline, Lyrica and Celebrex and we expect to reduce reserves next year and approach him for a settlement in June, 2018.  None of this would have been possible if not for the Rx project and your team’s expertise, guidance and follow up assistance.

While we have had great success with many of the claims that we partnered on, this particular claim was really about improving his quality of life.  So please share my THANK YOU and gratitude with your team. Let them know that what they do can save a life and that is priceless.

It’s True….Miracles Can Happen in Workers’ Compensation

What a wonderful way to end the day and begin our holiday celebrations!

From all of us at Tower MSA Partners, our best wishes for a wonderful holiday, and a safe and prosperous 2017!

CMS Announces Plans for 2017 Expansion of MSA Re-Review Process & New Policy Regarding URs in MSAs

December 22, 2016

Employers, carriers and claimants frustrated by the inability to obtain a revised CMS MSA approval after a substantial change in the claimant’s pre-settlement medical condition may find relief from CMS in 2017. Also in 2017, CMS will be issuing a policy regarding use of utilization reviews in MSA submissions. These potentially significant improvements in the CMS MSA review process are provided in a 12/21/2016 “teaser type” announcement on CMS’s website which states:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently revisited the task of reviewing its process for addressing requests for CMS to “re-review” otherwise approved Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside Arrangement (WCMSA) amounts. In Calendar year 2017, CMS expects to update its existing re-review process to address situations where CMS has provided an approved amount, but settlement has not occurred and the medical care that supported the approved amount has changed substantially. CMS also expects its updated process to address situations where certain states rely on Utilization Review Processes to justify proposed WCMSA amounts.

A link to the announcement may be found here.

What are the implications of this announcement from CMS?

No immediate change to CMS MSA review policies

Importantly, this is an announcement of an expected change to the MSA re-review process and the introduction of a UR policy in 2017. CMS provides no timeline beyond future announcements will occur in 2017. Consequently, there is presently no change to CMS MSA review processes or policies.

Substantial change in medical may present opportunities for revised MSA approvals

The announcement implies CMS will be expanding its MSA re-review process to cover MSA approvals where there has been a “substantial change” in the claimant’s medical condition. According to the CMS statement, this policy would only apply to cases “where settlement has not occurred.” In other words, if settlement has occurred (we assume settlement of medical) CMS will not consider a re-review.

Based upon the limited announcement it is also unclear how CMS will define “substantial change.” For example, must an actual reduction in medical care and/or prescription medication use be documented or simply a certain monetary threshold increase or decrease versus the prior MSA amount be demonstrated? This is an important question CMS will have to address as while a claimant’s medical care may not have substantially changed, the cost of the claimant’s prescription medications may have substantially reduced such as when a medication goes generic.

While the definition of “substantial change” will be the subject of a future CMS policy announcement, Tower MSA nonetheless expects this MSA Re-Review expansion to present a significant opportunity for carriers/employers and claimants to settle medical on cases which have languished unsettled for years as a result of prior high CMS MSA approvals. Reductions in a claimant’s medical costs over the years or the successful implementation of a plan to reduce a claimant’s inappropriate prescription medication regimen will yield not only a lower MSA allocation, but CMS approval of this updated MSA. The opportunity for an updated and lower MSA will facilitate claim settlements and closures.

Wait and see approach warranted regarding CMS policy on URs

The extent CMS will recognize state Utilization Review processes remains unclear based upon this announcement. Presently, CMS generally recognizes California UR determinations as a limitation on medical care in the MSA if upheld through the statutory Independent Medical Review (IMR) process as the IMR component is understood by CMS to be a final determination subject to appeal only under very limited circumstances. Other state UR processes have not been recognized as they are not considered by CMS to be final determinations. Accordingly, Tower MSA recommends taking a wait and see approach to how CMS defines its policy on URs in MSAs.

Concluding thoughts

Tower MSA applauds the potential expansion of the CMS MSA Re-Review process to encompass pre-settlement MSA approvals where there has been a substantial change in medical care as this gives carriers/employers and claimants a second-chance to settle long-standing open medical claims. We are also hopeful CMS will expand its policy on recognizing state UR process beyond California’s IMR process. We will closely monitor CMS for an announcement concerning the implementation of this policy change and provide you further analysis and recommendations.

If you have any questions regarding this CMS announcement please contact Dan Anders, Tower MSA Chief Compliance Officer, at (847) 946-2880 or Daniel.anders@towermsa.com

Workcompcentral Highlights Tower MSA CEO Rita Wilson’s “Edge” in MSP Compliance Technology

December 20, 2016

Tower MSA Partners CEO, Rita Wilson, is the subject of a recent Workcompcentral article, Focus on Tech Has Guided MSP Compliance Co. CEOs Career, highlighting how Rita’s career in building better pharmaceutical and worker’s compensation technology systems led her to develop a Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) technology platform which electronically integrates medical and cost-containment information.

In discussing why the MSP compliance technology platform is a difference maker for Tower MSA, Workcompcentral’s Emily Brill quotes Rita:

Tower MSA has differentiated itself by building out a software system that monitors and shares claim information from beginning to end, integrating medical and cost containment information for “continuity” and to avoid “reinventing the wheel” by scrambling to get information from separate sources.

The article further quotes Rita in explaining how the platform assists Tower MSA in providing MSP compliance services to its clients:

Our technology platform is able to track claim information all the way through, through the conditional payment research process, through the intervention process, through the MSA process. What we did was integrate this information and track it with one software application that allows us to measure the progress each month, and determine when the right time to finalize the MSA.

In understanding the benefits of Rita’s focus on technology in MSP compliance, Ms. Brill spoke to Ann Schnure, the former Vice-President of Risk Management for Macy’s, and also a strong proponent of the use of technology in claims handling, who said of Rita:

Wilson’s focus on technology has always given the CEO an edge.

Learn more about Tower MSA Partners Chief Executive Officer Rita Wilson,  connect with her on LinkedIn and view her blog posts on our MSP Compliance Blog.

To learn more about how Tower MSA Partners’ technology platform can give you an “edge” in Medicare Secondary Payer Compliance please contact Rita Wilson at rita.wilson@towermsapartners.com or 888.331.4941.

CMS Technical Alert Confirms $750 Threshold for Liability, WC and No-Fault TPOC Reporting

December 13, 2016

In a 12/12/2016 Technical Alert, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) confirmed their prior policy announcements concerning the implementation of a $750 threshold for the reporting of Total Payment Obligation to the Claimant (TPOC) through the Section 111 Mandatory Insurer Reporting process. The $750 threshold for TPOC reporting in WC and No-Fault claims became effective 10/1/2016 and will become effective for liability claims effective 1/1/2017.

The mandatory reporting threshold requirements are now as follows:

Liability Insurance:
The mandatory reporting threshold for liability insurance (including self-insurance) Total Payment Obligation to the Claimant (TPOC) Amounts dated January 1, 2017 or after is changing from $1000 to $750. If the most recent TPOC Date is on or after January 1, 2017, and the cumulative TPOC Amount is greater than $750, the TPOC(s) must be reported.

Note, the liability threshold only applies to physical trauma-based liability insurance TPOC amounts. It is not applicable to TPOC amounts for alleged ingestion, implantation or exposure.

No-Fault Insurance:
The mandatory reporting threshold for no-fault insurance TPOC Amounts dated October 1, 2016 or after changed from $0 to $750. If the most recent TPOC Date is on or after October 1, 2016, and the cumulative TPOC Amount is greater than $750, the TPOC(s) must be reported.

Workers’ Compensation:
The mandatory reporting threshold for workers’ compensation TPOC Amounts dated October 1, 2016 or after changed from $300 to $750. If the most recent TPOC Date is on or after October 1, 2016, and the cumulative TPOC Amount is greater than $750, the TPOC(s) must be reported

CMS also announced that as of 1/1/2017 reporting of cumulative TPOC Amounts at or below the above defined reporting thresholds will be accepted, but are not required. In other words, submitting a TPOC amount below the mandatory reporting thresholds will no longer generate an error code by CMS.

The entire content of the official Alert from CMS can be found here.

If you have any questions regarding this Alert please contact Tower MSA Partners’ Chief Compliance Officer, Dan Anders, at Daniel.anders@towermsa.com or (847) 946-2880.

Tower MSA Partnership with American Airlines and PRIUM Yields Legacy Claim Settlements

December 8, 2016

In a widely acclaimed presentation at the recent 2016 National Workers Compensation and Disability Conference, Jennifer Saddy, Workers’ Compensation Director for American Airlines and Mark Pew, Senior Vice President of PRIUM, detailed the successful cooperation among American, PRIUM and Tower MSA to reduce pharmacy costs, litigation referrals and Medicare Set Aside costs ultimately leading to significant claim settlements.  Tower MSA is grateful to Jennifer and Mark for highlighting how Tower MSA’s Identification, Intervention and Involvement services were a key contribution to the success of this legacy claim reduction program.
 
For more information on American’s program please read the Risk & Insurance article Make a Decision and Move the Needle: American Airlines needed to take aggressive action to resolve 6,000 lingering workers’ compensation claims.

For more information on Tower MSA’s legacy claim reduction services please contact us at 888.331.4941 or info@towermsa.com.