2027 Transparency Notice 

A) Non-Network Liability and Balance Billing

If you receive services from a non-network provider, you may have to pay more for services you receive. Non-network providers may be permitted to bill you for the difference between what we agreed to pay, and the full amount charged for a service. This is known as balance billing. This amount is likely more than network costs for the same service and might not count toward your annual maximum out-of-pocket amount limit. However, you are not responsible for balance billing when balance billing protections apply to covered services.

B) Enrollee Claim Submission

Providers will typically submit claims on your behalf, but sometimes you may need to submit claims yourself for covered services. This may happen if your provider is not contracted with us.

We must receive written proof of loss within 90 calendar days of the loss or as soon as is reasonably possible. Proof of loss furnished more than one year late will not be accepted, unless you or your covered dependent member had no legal capacity to submit such proof during that year.

If you have paid for services we agreed to cover, you can request reimbursement for the amount you paid, less any deductible amounts, copayment amounts or cost sharing that is your financial responsibility. 

To request reimbursement for a covered service, you need a copy of the detailed claim from your provider. You also need to submit a copy of the Member Reimbursement Medical Claim Form (PDF) posted at AmbetterHealth.com/en/IN. Send all the documentation to us at the following address:

Ambetter from MHS
Attn: Claims Department
P.O. Box 5010
Farmington, MO 63640-5010

For services that are not subject to the federal No Surprises Act balance billing protections, clean claims will be processed within 30 calendar days when submitted electronically or within 45 calendar days when submitted on paper. For services that are subject to the federal No Surprises Act balance billing protections, we will process a clean claim within 30 calendar days of receipt, regardless of how the claim is submitted.

A clean claim means a claim submitted by you or a provider that has no defect, impropriety or other circumstance requiring special treatment that prevents timely payment. If additional information is required to process a claim, we will request the necessary information within 30 calendar days after initial receipt of the claim and you will receive a copy of the request. We cannot complete processing of the claim until the requested information has been received. Upon receipt of all requested information, we will complete processing of the claim within 15 calendar days.

 C) Grace Periods and Claims Pending

If you do not pay your premium by its due date, you will enter a grace period. This is extra time we give you to pay.

During your grace period, you will still have coverage. However, if you do not pay before a grace period ends, you run the risk of losing your coverage. During a grace period, we may hold - or pend - your claim payment.

If your coverage is terminated for not paying your premium, you will not be eligible to enroll with us again until open enrollment or a special enrollment period.

If you receive a subsidy payment

 After the first premium is paid, a grace period of three months from the premium due date is given for the payment of premium. Coverage will remain in force during the grace period. If full payment of premium is not received with the grace period, coverage will be terminated as of the last calendar day of the first month during the grace period if advance premium tax credits are received. 

During the first month of your grace period, we will keep paying claims for covered services you receive. If you continue to receive services during the second and third months of your grace period, we may hold these claims. If your coverage is in the second or third month of a grace period, we will notify you and your health care providers about the possibility of denied claims.

If you do not receive a subsidy payment

 Premium payments are due in advance, on a calendar month basis. Monthly payments are due on or before the first calendar day of each month for coverage effective during such month. There is a 60-calendar day grace period. This provision means that if any required premium is not paid on or before the date it is due, it may be paid during the grace period. During the grace period, the contract will stay in force; however, claims may pend for covered services rendered to the member during the grace period. We will notify Health and Human Services (HHS), as necessary, of the non-payment of premiums, the member, as well as providers of the possibility of denied claims when the member is in the grace period.

D) Retroactive Denials

"Retroactive denial of a previously paid claim" or "retroactive denial of payment" means any attempt by a carrier retroactively to collect payments already made to a provider with respect to a claim by reducing other payments currently owed to the provider, by withholding or setting off against future payments, or in any other manner reducing or affecting the future claim payments to the provider.

There are instances where claims may be denied retroactively if you received services from a provider or facility that is not in our network, terminate coverage with Ambetter, provide late notification of other coverage due to new coverage, or have a change in circumstance, such as divorce or marriage. This causes Ambetter to request recoupment of payment from the provider.

Retroactive denials can be avoided by paying your premiums on time and in full and making sure you talk to your provider about whether the service performed is a covered service. You can also avoid retroactive denials by obtaining your medical services from a network provider.

If you believe the denial is in error, you are encouraged to contact Member Services by calling the number on the back of your member identification card.

E) Recoupment of Overpayments

If you believe you have paid too much for your premium and should receive a refund, please contact Member Services immediately at the number listed on the back of your member identification card. Refunds are processed by two methods, electronically or by a manual check. The type of refund that is issued is dependent on the method of payment. Payments made with a debit/credit card via e-Cashiering, interactive voice response (IVR) system, auto pay, or member portal, as well as credit card payments sent to our lockbox vendor will be refunded via e-Cashiering. Payments made via e-Check will also be refunded electronically. Payments made by check to our lockbox vendor and payments that were processed in-house at our Little Rock location must be refunded manually via live check.

F) Medical Necessity and Utilization Management

Services are only covered if they are medically necessary. Medically necessary services are those that:

  • Are consistent with the symptoms or diagnosis;
  • Are provided according to generally accepted standards of medical practice;
  • Are not custodial care;
  • Are not solely for the convenience of the physician or the member;
  • Are not experimental or investigational;
  • Are provided in the most cost-effective care facility or setting;
  • Demonstrate that the member is reasonably capable of improving in his/her functional ability;
  • Does not exceed the scope, duration or intensity of that level of care that is needed to provide safe, adequate and appropriate diagnosis or treatment and
  • When specifically applied to a hospital confinement, it means that the diagnosis and treatment of your medical symptoms or conditions cannot be safely provided as an outpatient.

Authorization Requirements

Some medical and behavioral health covered services require prior authorization. In general, network providers must obtain authorization from us prior to providing a service or supply to a member. However, there are some network eligible expenses for which you must obtain the prior authorization.

For services or supplies that require prior authorization, as shown on the Schedule of Benefits, you must obtain authorization from us before you or your dependent member:

  1. Receives a service or supply from a non-network provider;
  2. Are admitted into a network facility by a non-network provider; or
  3. Receives a service or supply from a network provider to which you or your dependent member was referred to by a non-network provider.

Pursuant to the federal No Surprises Act, emergency services received from a non-network provider are covered services without prior authorization.

Authorization requests or notification of admission (medical and behavioral health)  must be received by telephone/e-fax/provider web portal as follows:

  1. At least five calendar days prior to an elective admission as an inpatient in a hospital, extended care or rehabilitation facility, hospice facility or residential treatment facility.
  2. At least 30 calendar days prior to the initial evaluation for organ transplant services.
  3. At least 30 calendar days prior to receiving clinical trial services.
  4. At least five calendar days prior to the start of home health care except those members needing home health care after hospital discharge.

Notification of an admission for emergent/urgent inpatient medical, mental health disorder or substance use disorder treatment must be received within 24 hours.

After an authorization request has been received, we will notify you and your provider of our decision as required by applicable law:

  1. For urgent concurrent reviews received at least 24 hours prior to the expiration of a previously approved course of treatment, within 24 hours of receipt of the request. For all other urgent concurrent reviews, within 72 hours of receipt of request. 
  2. For urgent pre-service reviews, within 24 hours of receipt of request, excluding holidays and weekends.
  3. For non-urgent pre-service reviews within 48 hours of the receipt of the request, excluding holidays and weekends.
  4. For post-service or retrospective reviews, within 30 calendar days of receipt of the request.

In situations where additional information is needed to make a decision, these timeframes may be extended in accordance with applicable law.

Failure to Obtain Prior Authorization

Failure to comply with the prior authorization requirements will result in benefits being reduced. A non-network provider can balance bill you for these services.

Network providers cannot bill you for services for which they fail to obtain prior authorization as required.

Benefits will not be reduced for failure to comply with authorization requirements prior to receiving emergency services.

G) Drug Exceptions Timeframes and Enrollee Responsibilities

Prescription Drug Exception Process

Sometimes members need access to drugs that are not listed on the formulary. Members or providers can submit a drug exception request to us by contacting Member Services or by sending a written request to the following address:

Ambetter from MHS
429 North Pennsylvania Street, Suite 109
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Standard exception request

A member, a member’s authorized representative or a member’s prescribing physician may request a standard review of a decision that a drug is not covered by the plan or a protocol exception for step therapy. The request can be made in writing or via telephone. Within 72 hours of the request being received, we will provide the member, the member’s authorized representative or the member’s prescribing physician with our coverage determination. Should the standard exception request or step therapy protocol exception request be granted, we will provide coverage of the non-formulary drug for the duration of the prescription, including refills, or of the drug that is the subject of the protocol exception.

Expedited exception request

A member, a member’s designee or a member’s prescribing physician may request an expedited review based on exigent circumstances. Exigent circumstances exist when a member is suffering from a health condition that may seriously jeopardize the member's life, health or ability to regain maximum function or when a member is undergoing a current course of treatment using a non-formulary drug. The request can be made in writing or via telephone. Within 24 hours of the request being received, we will provide the member, the member’s designee or the member’s prescribing physician with our coverage determination. Should the standard exception or step therapy protocol exception request be granted, we will provide coverage of the non-formulary drug or the drug that is the subject of the protocol exception for the duration of the exigency.

External exception request review

If we deny a request for a standard exception or for an expedited exception, the member, the member’s designee, or the member’s prescribing physician may request that the original exception request and subsequent denial of such request be reviewed by an independent review organization. We will make our determination on the external exception request and notify the member, the member’s designee, or the member’s prescribing physician of our coverage determination no later than three business days following receipt of the request, if the original request was a standard exception and no later than one business day following its receipt of the request if the original request was an expedited exception.

If we grant an external exception review of a standard exception or step therapy protocol exception request, we will provide coverage of the non-formulary drug or the drug that is the subject of the protocol exception for the duration of the prescription. If we grant an external exception review of an expedited exception request, we will provide coverage of the non-formulary drug or the drug that is the subject of the protocol exception for the duration of the exigency.

H) Information on Explanations of Benefits

An Explanation of Benefits (EOB) is a statement that we send to members to explain what medical treatments and/or services we paid for on behalf of a member. This shows the amount billed by the provider, the issuer’s payment, and the member’s financial responsibility pursuant to the terms of the policy. We will send an EOB to a member after we receive and adjudicate a claim on your behalf from a provider. If you need assistance interpreting your EOB, please contact Member Services.

I) Coordination of Benefits

Ambetter coordinates benefits with other payers when a member is covered by two or more health benefit plans. Coordination of Benefits (COB) is the industry standard practice used to share the cost of care between two or more carriers when a member is covered by more than one health benefit plan.

It is a contractual provision of a majority of health benefit contracts.  Ambetter complies with federal and state regulations for COB and follows COB guidelines published by National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Under COB, the benefits of one plan are determined to be primary and are first applied to the cost of care. After considering what has been covered by the primary plan, the secondary plan may cover the cost of care up to the fully allowed expense according to the plan’s payment guidelines. Ambetter Claims COB and Recovery Unit procedures are designed to avoid payment in excess of allowable expense while also making sure claims are processed both accurately and timely.