In brief: Walgreens lets go of Option Care, Quantum seeks Roll Models

DEERFIELD, Ill. - Walgreens Boots Alliance has sold its remaining 10.8 million shares of Option Care Health, generating about $330 million. 

Earlier this year, in March, Walgreens sold 13 million shares of Option Care Health at $30.75 per share. Last year, it sold 11 million shares in the company. 

Walgreens says it will use the proceeds from the sale “primarily for debt paydown, continued support of the company’s strategic priorities and healthcare transformation.” 

The company rebranded Walgreens Infusion Services as Option Care in 2015. It bought Option Care in 2007. 

Option Care, which is majority owned by Madison Dearborn Partners, recently announced a merger with Amedisys. Optum, however, has since made an unsolicited bid for Amedisys. 

Walgreens completed a majority share acquisition of CareCentrix and Shields Health Solutions in 2022. 

HHS announces Medicaid flexibilities as millions face dis-enrollment 

WASHINGTON - The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced new flexibilities to help keep Americans covered as states resume Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) renewals.  

Continuous Medicaid enrollment established under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ended on March 31, 2023, and millions of Medicaid beneficiaries stand to lose coverage in the coming months. 

The new flexibilities were announced in a letter Secretary Becerra sent to the nation’s governors urging them to adopt all available flexibilities to minimize avoidable coverage losses among children and families.   

“Nobody who is eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program should lose coverage simply because they changed addresses, didn’t receive a form, or didn’t have enough information about the renewal process,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “We encourage states to utilize all available flexibilities to ensure children and families don’t lose coverage. We also urge states to join us in partnering with local governments, community organizations, and schools to reach people eligible for Medicaid and CHIP where they are.” 

Building on flexibilities HHS offered to states well before renewals resumed, some of the new flexibilities announced this week include: 

• Allowing managed care plans to assist people with Medicaid with completing their renewal forms, including completing certain parts of the renewal forms on their behalf. 
• Allowing states to delay an administrative termination for one month while the state conducts additional targeted outreach. This will give people more time to be reminded to fill out and return their renewal forms. 
• Allowing pharmacies and community-based organizations to facilitate reinstatement of coverage for those who were recently disenrolled for procedural reasons based on presumptive eligibility criteria. 

“CMS is committed to making sure people have the affordable, high-quality health coverage they need,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “I am deeply concerned about eligible losing coverage, and am urging states and partners to adopt the strategies we have outlined to help people renew their Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Plan coverage if they are eligible or link them to new health coverage. We will continue to monitor and work collaboratively with states, advocates, the health care industry and others to keep people covered.” 

•  Read what Andrea Stark had to say about providers preparing for Medicaid dis-enrollment.

Quantum Rehab seeking Roll Models 

DURYEA, Pa. – Quantum Rehab is launching its Q Roll Model contest for 2023. The company is looking for two diverse and relatable wheelchair users from across the country to join its team of brand ambassadors. “We know there is no one type of wheelchair user, and we’re dedicated to creating wheelchairs that are as unique as the people who sit in them every day,” said Stephanie Woodward, brand ambassador coordinator. “That is what makes this contest so exciting – we’re able to bring on new team members to represent Quantum Rehab and whose lived experience as wheelchair users can help us to continuously move the bar forward for power wheelchair technology.” Winners will receive a three-month paid contract and a Quantum power wheelchair with iLevel technology with full service included. The contest runs from June 14 – August 13 and is open to legal residents of the US age 18 and older and children age 10 with parental/guardian consent. To view the full rules or apply: https://www.quantumrehab.com/q-roll-contest.asp 

Florida man convicted in diabetes fraud scheme 

MIRAMAR, Fla. – A federal jury has convicted Steven King, 45, of Miramar, Fla., for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud for dispensing unnecessary lidocaine and diabetes testing supplies and billing Medicare more than $50 million. King was the chief compliance officer of AIC Holdings, which held pharmacies in various states including All American Medical Pharmacy in Warren, Mich. King and his co-conspirators took several steps to conceal their scheme, including enrolling their mail order pharmacies as brick-and-mortar retail locations to evade more rigorous oversight, shipping prescription refills for high-reimbursing medications and supplies without patient consent, concealing the ownership of A1C Holdings LLC and its pharmacies, and transferring patients among pharmacies without patient consent, according to the Department of Justice. King and his co-conspirators took each of these steps to ensure that Medicare continued to be billed for profitable medications and supplies. King faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. His sentencing date is set for Sept. 14. 

Florida providers to receive ARPA funds 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration will grant one-time payments to providers of home and community-based services including DME, calculated as a 19% increase based on Medicaid managed care claims paid from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021. The relief is possible thanks to the funding provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which went into effect April 1, 2021. The payments do not require any application or reporting from eligible suppliers. ACHA said that “payments have been disbursed to the plans and the plans will then have 30 days to make disbursements to eligible providers.”