Dive Brief:
- Humana incorrectly informed a portion of its Texas health plan enrollees that a particular allergy medication--the generic version of Flonase--was not covered and was not approved by the FDA, the Austin American-Statesman reports.
- Upon investigation, the state insurance department found similarly incorrect letters had been sent to customers regarding “several different medications."
- Roughly 12,000 of Humana's 1.8 million Texas customers received the erroneous letters.
Dive Insight:
Humana said it would address the issue with corrected letters soon, which appears to be satisfactory to the Texas Department of Insurance.
“We are aware that letters were sent to some members incorrectly listing certain medications as non-FDA approved and no longer covered under their plan,” Humana spokeswoman Marina Renneke said in a prepared statement. “We apologize for this error and are working to send corrected letters to impacted members as quickly as possible.”
An Austin resident and insurance agent, who was among the impacted customers, was the one who caught and reported the mistake. He was aware the fluticasone propionate nasal spray has been approved by the FDA for more than 10 years and contacted the Texas Department of Insurance about the letter.