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Yellow Pages
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Yellow Pages
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Written by TAC Staff: Yellow Pages
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Saturday, 28 January 2012 05:16 |
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Phoenix, AZ: A group of chiropractors today called on Gov. Jan Brewer to fire the director of the Arizona Department of Insurance for not upholding a law they say requires insurance companies to cover chiropractic services.
Dr. Alan Immerman, president of the Arizona Chiropractic Association, claimed Insurance Director Christine Urias is "beholden" to insurance companies, particularly Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, which pays $44 for a chiropractic visit no matter how much treatment is provided and requires the patient to make a $40 co-payment.
Immerman said the insurance company will then pay only $4 on the visit and then only allow six to seven visits no matter how bad off the patient is.
"Health insurance will pay fully for patients to get treatment for back and neck problems when they're seen by medical and osteopathic doctors, but will pay next to nothing if the patient is seen by chiropractors," Immerman said.
The result, Immerman said, is that hundreds of chiropractors are going out of business.
A call to Urias' office was not immediately returned.
Regena Frieden, a Blue Cross Blue Shield spokeswoman, said in an email the company tries to maintain a balance between rising healthcare costs and coverage for services.
She said the company works with a vendor who contracts with 850 chiropractors that have agreed to accept its reimbursement rates.
Source: Arizona Capitol Times
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Yellow Pages
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Written by TAC Staff: Yellow Pages
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Saturday, 28 January 2012 05:09 |
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Los Angeles, CA: "She Won't Crack My Back 'Cause I'm a Scientology Reject". "Young and the Restless" star Michael Fairman has filed a lawsuit against a Scientologist chiropractor -- claiming she refused to see him and his family after he was excommunicated from the Church.
Fairman claims he was a prominent member of the Church, but became disenchanted with the way the Church was running things. Fairman claims Church leaders got fed up with him earlier this year, branded him and his wife "suppressive persons" and blacklisted the family from all things Scientology.
After Fairman was ousted, the actor claims he received a letter from the family chiropractor -- an active Scientologist -- informing him she would no longer treat the Fairman family. Fairman also claims she refused to hand over a copy of the family's medical records.
In the lawsuit, Fairman claims he MUST have been discriminated against because he's no longer with the Church -- noting that he's been a good, paying customer since 2003.
Source: TMZ
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Yellow Pages
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Written by TAC Staff: Yellow Pages
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Sunday, 18 December 2011 01:50 |
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - WellPoint affiliated plans are adding Medicare Advantage (MA) products in 136 counties in 11 states this year, encompassing a population of more than 1 million people eligible for Medicare. MA plans incorporate Medicare Parts A (hospital) and B (medical) into one convenient product that may include additional benefits. Part D also can be added for drug coverage (MAPD). More than 12 million people across the country have a MA plan, according to America's Health Insurance Plans.
"We're very excited to get approval from the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services for this expansion, which is one of our biggest ever," said Julie G. Smith, a vice president in WellPoint's senior business. "These plans will help provide people eligible for Medicare with more choices for their health care within their respective markets."
As a result of the expansion, Medicare eligibles in 74 counties in six states will have access to a WellPoint affiliated health plan for the very first time. The largest expansions to new counties are occurring in Georgia, Missouri, Virginia and Wisconsin. Premiums vary by geography, including some $0 premium plans. Additionally, people in many counties that were already served by WellPoint affiliated plans will have access to new products. For example, they may have access to a WellPoint local PPO or HMO plan for the very first time.
The products are being sold during the 2011 plan Annual Election Period (AEP), which runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 this year, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2012. Also during AEP, the WellPoint affiliated plans are offering Optional Supplemental Benefits (OSBs) in 12 states. OSBs cover additional services that may not be covered in the member's Medicare Advantage health plan, such as dental, vision, chiropractic services and acupuncture. Medicare beneficiaries can enroll in an optional supplemental benefit package when they enroll in their 2012 MAPD or for up to 90 days after their plan effective date. OSBs require an additional premium.
"Baby Boomers are aging into Medicare with many interests and goals," Smith said. "We're developing products like OSBs to give them a variety of choices."
In addition to MA and MAPD plans and OSBs, WellPoint affiliated plans offer Medicare Supplement plans with extra benefits available for purchase called "Anthem Extras." Medicare has neither reviewed nor endorsed this information. Benefits and premium may change on January 1, 2013. The benefit information provided herein is a brief summary, not a comprehensive description of benefits. For more information contact the plan.
Source: WellPoint, Inc.
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Yellow Pages
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Written by TAC Staff: Yellow Pages
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Sunday, 18 December 2011 01:46 |
HOUSTON, TX - Justina Okehie aka Dr. Tina Collins, 55, of Richmond, Texas, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today.
The conspiracy resulted in fraudulent physical therapy and chiropractic claims being paid by the Medicare and the Texas Medicaid programs. From January 2007 through August 2010, Medicare and Medicaid paid approximately $2.1 million to Okehie.
Okehie owned and operated Adom Rehabilitation Services and Healthcare and Wellness Medical Center which were both located in southwest side Houston. As part of the conspiracy, Okehie would pay patient recruiters to refer Medicare beneficiaries to her clinics. Okehie also paid the Medicare beneficiaries themselves for just showing up at the clinics. In many instances, the physical therapy and chiropractic services billed to the government health care programs were not performed and were not medically necessary. Some of the Medicare beneficiaries were actually receiving medical services at inpatient hospital facilities at the time Okehie was purportedly providing them physical therapy and chiropractic services in her clinics.
Co-defendant Cassandra Tasby Barnes, 48, of Houston, who was employed by Barnes as an office manager, had previously pleaded guilty in this case to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute. Barnes pleaded guilty for her role in paying Medicare beneficiaries and patient recruiters for referring Medicare beneficiaries for physical therapy and chiropractic services. Both Okehie and Barnes are currently on bond and are scheduled to be sentenced on May 21, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas.
The investigation into Adom Rehabilitation and Healthcare and Wellness Medical Center was the result of joint efforts by agents and investigators of the Inspector General's Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Texas Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Railroad Retirement Board and the FBI. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Blan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Redlinger are prosecuting this case.
Source: The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
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Yellow Pages
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Written by TAC Staff: Yellow Pages
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Saturday, 19 November 2011 04:38 |
DENVER, CO -- The state of Colorado took action against a chiropractor, handing down pages of violations, accusing him of unethical practices, after a television investigation exposed his business practices. Over the past year, many former patients of chiropractor Brandon Credeur told 7NEWS that they paid thousands of dollars upfront, seeking help for thyroid and diabetes problems from someone they thought was an endocrinologist. Credeur has been hit with 25 counts including negligent chiropractic practice, false or misleading advertising, unethical advertising, ordering unnecessary tests, failing to make essential entries on patient records, or falsifying them, abandoning a patient, and performing a procedure beyond the scope of authorized services.
CJ Omelian, a former Credeur patient, believes that Credeur's license should be pulled.
"He abused that," Omelian said.
Until she saw an investigation by CALL7, a local television program, the patient believed Credeur was an endocrinologist."I hope he has to answer to every charge he has against him," Omelian said.
"Patients are sometimes not understanding the qualifications of the people they're dealing with. And we think this is one of those cases," said Dr. Brent Keeler, president of the Colorado Medical Society. The Colorado Medical Society is calling for more transparency. And it is Credeur's own words, seen in Web videos posted online, that raises even more questions as he tutors others chiropractors on his business model.
"I would take the spines out of the office or at least hide them," Credeur instructed in one video.
"These patients are desperate," Credeur said in another video.
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