Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Behavioral Health Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Psychiatric providers tell committee $4.3M is outstanding under PAS model, cite assessment delays and claim denials
Summary
Providers representing inpatient psychiatric hospitals told the committee they face $4.3 million in accounts receivable under the PAS managed‑care model, with about $2 million over 30 days overdue, citing slow assessments by Optum, beneficiaries being dropped from PAS coverage and coding/account mismatches as core problems.
Representatives of Arkansas inpatient psychiatric providers told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee that they are experiencing significant billing, authorization and payment problems under the PAS managed‑care model.
"As of close for our books June 30, we had more than $4,300,000 in AR balances from the 3 pass organizations," Shane Frazier, CEO of Pinnacle Point Behavioral Healthcare System, said. He told the committee more than $2,000,000 of that total is more than 30 days past due and that providers are seeing delays in expedited assessments, beneficiaries dropped from PAS enrollments, and denials caused by Medicaid‑number or authorization mismatches that prevent billing for required residential services.
Nut graf: Providers said manual reconciliation is consuming staff time; payers (Empower, Arkansas Total Care, Summit) acknowledged issues with fee‑schedule and revenue‑code mismatches, said corrections are under way and that reprocessing will conclude in mid‑July, and committed to working with provider business offices to reconcile outstanding balances. Providers urged the committee to keep monitoring the PAS contractor performance, noting Optum's assessment contract is scheduled for renewal and that prompt assessments are central to appropriate placement and payment.
Committee members asked for more detailed breakdowns by payer and aging bucket; providers said they will supply itemized AR reports and supporting claim data for reconciliation. The committee suggested inviting Optum or PAS leadership to a future meeting before contract renewal to maintain transparency.
