Important Updates Regarding Coronavirus COVID-19

The suspension of certain utilization review and notification requirements per the March 2020 DFS Insurance Circular Letter had expired on June 18, 2020. Authorization requirements have been reinstated for claims with dates of service on or after June 19, 2020 through December 22, 2020. Providers are required to contact Fidelis Care for prior authorization on services as described in the authorization grid, and can complete this request via the portal or by dialing 1-888-FIDELIS.

DFS issued a new Circular Letter 17 (2020) that suspends prior authorization for a variety of inpatient hospital services effective 12/23/2020 for 60 days. As per section II, hospitals should use their best efforts to provide 48 hours’ notice to the plan after hospital admission, including information to assist with coordinating care and discharge planning. Fidelis Care may review these services for medical necessity concurrently or retrospectively. This suspension of preauthorization review does not apply to “non-essential elective procedures” that can be delayed in accordance with DOH’s “COVID-19 Directive Regarding the Resumption of Elective Outpatient Surgeries and Procedures in General Hospitals in Counties and Facilities Without a Significant Risk of COVID-19 Surge,” dated April 29, 2020 (the “DOH directive”).

Should there be additional direction from the state or an extension of the Circular Letter, Fidelis Care would be updating accordingly. Fidelis Care will continue to work with DFS, DOH, and provider partners as authorization provisions evolve during the course of the emergency response. 

Fidelis Care covers treatment services related to COVID-19, including inpatient hospital treatment, and will be waiving all cost sharing for COVID-19 treatment effective retroactively to February 4^th, 2020. To ensure that cost-sharing is not a barrier to testing or treatment, Fidelis Care will cover services including testing and treatment for COVID-19 and for physician, clinic, urgent care, inpatient admissions, and emergency visits without copays, deductibles, or coinsurances for members across all plans.

Effective February 4, 2020, providers are responsible to ensure any copays, coinsurance, or deductible charges are waived for Fidelis Care members at the time of an office visit, urgent care visit, clinic, inpatient admission, or emergency room visit when the purpose of that visit is testing or treatment for COVID-19.  If you provided treatment to a member during this time and collected any copays, deductible or coinsurance, Fidelis Care expects you to refund the money collected to the member. 

On August 5, 2020, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) posted Circular Letter #14 regarding Charges for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by Participating Providers.PPE consists of personal protective equipment such as masks, gowns and gloves. The DFS letter reminds participating providers that they should not charge insured members fees that are above their responsibility for covered services.

In adherence to the letter, participating providers are reminded not to bill, seek, or accept payment from Fidelis Care members other than copayments, coinsurance, or deductible. Participating providers should contact Fidelis Care at 1-888-FIDELIS to report if charges have been inappropriately sought or collected from our members and begin issuing refunds to impacted members.

Fidelis Care has updated our claims systems to be able to receive new codes associated with COVID-19 testing and has added Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes as they become available. Providers should continue to follow evolving CDC ICD-10-CM Official Coding Guidelines available here: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/icd/icd10cm.htm when selecting a diagnosis code and procedure code to ensure proper reporting.

*Please Note:The coding guidelines referenced below is not a guarantee of reimbursement in all products, as codes may not have published rates for all products.In addition, coding may be subject to National Correct Coding Initiatives or CMS standards.

Fidelis Care covers a 90-day supply for most prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) maintenance medications. Please note, prior authorization may be required for 90-day supplies for some medications. Practitioners and pharmacists should consider ordering 90-day supplies of long-term maintenance medications for individuals in quarantine. Providers can find additional important updates regarding pharmacy changes in the context of the emergency declaration available here.

Fidelis Care’s telehealth coverage and reimbursement approach described throughout also applies to our network of participating behavioral health providers, including all individual practitioners currently contracted with Fidelis Care (including but not limited to licensed clinical social workers, psychologists, licensed mental health counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, and ABA providers) as well as facilities delivering OMH and OASAS licensed programs.

As guidance continues to evolve over time, OMH licensed or funded programs should continue to monitor updates available here: https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/guidance/  as well as referencing recently published guidance here: https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/guidance/omh-covid-19-disaster-emergency-faqs.pdf .  OASAS licensed or funded programs should continue to monitor updates available here: https://oasas.ny.gov/keywords/coronavirus .

Fidelis Care will continue to monitor changes in state and federal regulations related to any expansion of, additional approval, or change in regulation regarding telehealth services.

Consistent with DFS Circular Letter 10 and the subsequent executive orders extending these provisions, Fidelis Care is waiving member cost share (deductible, copay, and coinsurance) on all in network outpatient mental health and substance use treatment effective May 2^nd, 2020.

In-network Providers are reminded not to collect member cost share for outpatient mental health and substance use treatment during this timeframe, and if such cost share was inaccurately collected, to issue member refunds.Claims processing has been updated to waive member liability reflected in provider payments when a behavioral health diagnosis is included on the claim.Fidelis has applied this provision not only to members who are or were employed as ‘essential’, but to all members. This provision is currently scheduled to expire on January 23, 2021, subject to additional state directives. 

Fidelis Care is closely following advancements in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, including vaccinations. As a healthcare provider, you will play an integral role as COVID-19 vaccines become available. We want to update you on important new information about vaccine coverage.

To prepare for vaccine administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) have published billing guidance:

The following codes have been published as of November 10, 2020. However, they will not be billable until the specific vaccine receives official EUA approval. Similar to other COVID-19 services, the vaccines will be offered at no cost to your patients

Medicaid , Healthier Life, Essential Plan, Qualified Health Plan and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP):

• Fidelis Care will configure its systems to properly adjudicate COVID-19 vaccine-related claims, both for the vaccine and its administration, in accordance with New York’s coverage determinations for Medicaid beneficiaries
• Member liability will be $0
• Non-participating provider pre-authorization requirements will be waived
• Provider reimbursement rates and emergency use authorizations (EUA) are all still pending and we will update you as that information becomes available

Medicare:

• For Calendar Years (CYs) 2020 and 2021, Medicare payment for the COVID-19 vaccine and its administration for Medicare Advantage plan members will be made through the original fee-for-service Medicare program.
• Fidelis Care will not be able to process these claims.
• Therefore, providers must submit claims for administering the COVID-19 vaccine to their CMS Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) using product-specific codes for each vaccine approved.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has published updates to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code set that includes new vaccine-specific codes to report immunizations for the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The code set will continue to be updated as additional vaccines receive EUA approval by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

Additionally, CMS has also published a set of toolkits to help providers prepare to swiftly administer the vaccine once it is available. If you have any further questions about this upcoming vaccine or the COVID-19 services Fidelis Care covers, please contact Provider Services at 1-888-FIDELIS (1-888-343-3547).

Fidelis Care will continue to support, promote, and align with rapidly evolving New York State and CMS guidance to providers on allowable parameters to render telehealth and telephonic services to our members. Fidelis Care will also continue to ensure alignment and state and federal directives regarding the waiving of member cost share for telehealth services for the duration of the declared state of emergency.

To the extent it is practical, Fidelis Care encourages the use of telehealth to provide COVID-19 related services to members and offers reimbursement for these services across all products.

Effective January 1, 2021 , Teladoc will no longer be participating in Medicaid Managed Care, Healthier Life, Child Health Plus, The Essential Plan, Qualified Health Plans. Members can still get access to telehealth services from our broad network of participating providers, often times from the same providers a member is already established with for primary care or behavioral health needs. Members should contact their provider to learn if their provider offers telehealth services and determine how to get started.

Teladoc is offered as an online option for Fidelis Care Medicare Advantage, and Dual Advantage members. Babylon can be utilized for the Qualified Health Plan members.