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Saturday, May 10, 2014

Opiophobia & Insurance

It has come to my attention that more and more insurance companies are refusing to cover pain management, opioids, longterm opioids, and/or procedures. Or, no PMs in network and within a reasonable distance.

I've heard of this occurring with Medicaid (parts of Florida), HeritageCare (parts of Florida), and private insurance (some BlueCross BlueShield plans) and I find this very worrisome.

I would appreciate it if anyone who knows about specific cases of this would common below and/or email me (please specify whether or not I may publish the information you email me). Please include:
* the type of discrimination (higher copay, unrealistic quantity limits, prior authorization on generics, duration limits, PMs not covered or not in network, PMs who practice opioids not in network, etcetera)
* the company name
* the type of plan (Medicare Part D, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, Medicaid HMO, private insurance HMO, private insurance PPO, private POS, private FFS, ACA exchange, Tricare, VA, etcetera)
* state
* description.

If anyone knows about any petitions focused on this issue, please add them as comments and/or email them to me.

We cannot allow this practice to continue or, even worse, spread.

Steve
IntractablePainKills@gmail.com