On May 31 and June 1, 2022, Cigna performed deposit reversals that the carrier attributes to a system glitch. APS’ Insurance follow-up specialists reached out to the carrier who indicated this was a known issue and is in mediation. Once the issue has been addressed internally, the carrier indicated payments will be reissued. This could be a long process. APS’ client management team was also informed by Ann Lambrix, VP RCM Consulting, Vachette Pathology, this glitch was isolated to 343,000 claims, as discovered when their team reached out to the carrier. The carrier also indicated it was concerned payments recouped were duplicates.
There is a large volume of claims affected by this incident and the carrier’s feedback seems to be a bit varying based off initial follow-up. If we know anything, this backlog of claims with a known issue will certainly lead to additional challenges in managing accounts receivable for this payer. The claims in question will need reviewed to evaluate the actions taken by the carrier and any claims in this batch that include a denial could cause further delays. Cigna traditionally has fairly short claims filing limits. More specifically, the clock starts at the date of service and not based off the carrier’s processing date. APS’ denial management team will work diligently to ensure the carrier processes all claims for payments and no money is lost due to this issue.
It’s hard to say how long this reprocessing will take on Cigna’s end. We will continue to keep you updated on this and all issues affecting your revenue.
