Post by Logan on Feb 21, 2016 6:40:40 GMT -6
NH reviews whether insurers are spending enough on substance abuse treatment
CONCORD, New Hampshire — An initial review of whether health insurance companies are appropriately covering substance abuse treatment in New Hampshire shows significant differences in how often claims are denied, but experts identified problems with only a handful of cases.
The probe comes as New Hampshire seeks to expand treatment and recovery services amid a growing heroin and opioid crisis. The state insurance department began looking into the issue in November after hearing from complaints from providers and advocates, and officials presented their preliminary findings in Concord on Friday.
From January to October, there were 11,650 claims for opioid treatment among the top three insurance companies — Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Cigna and Harvard Pilgrim — and across the board, the number of patients filing such claims represented less than half of one percent of each company's customers.
The companies weren't identified individually, but their denial rates for opioid treatment claims were 9.5 percent, 15 percent and 28.3 percent. Medical experts reviewed 64 cases in which treatment was deemed medically unnecessary and had concerns with just eight of them.
Read more: www.therepublic.com/view/story/1caced51c6da4f2ca750abe12de7ad55/NH--Substance-Abuse-Insurance
CONCORD, New Hampshire — An initial review of whether health insurance companies are appropriately covering substance abuse treatment in New Hampshire shows significant differences in how often claims are denied, but experts identified problems with only a handful of cases.
The probe comes as New Hampshire seeks to expand treatment and recovery services amid a growing heroin and opioid crisis. The state insurance department began looking into the issue in November after hearing from complaints from providers and advocates, and officials presented their preliminary findings in Concord on Friday.
From January to October, there were 11,650 claims for opioid treatment among the top three insurance companies — Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Cigna and Harvard Pilgrim — and across the board, the number of patients filing such claims represented less than half of one percent of each company's customers.
The companies weren't identified individually, but their denial rates for opioid treatment claims were 9.5 percent, 15 percent and 28.3 percent. Medical experts reviewed 64 cases in which treatment was deemed medically unnecessary and had concerns with just eight of them.
Read more: www.therepublic.com/view/story/1caced51c6da4f2ca750abe12de7ad55/NH--Substance-Abuse-Insurance