FABA EVV Action Committee Update - January 7, 2021

FABA EVV Action Committee Update - December 14, 2020

Based on our most recent contact with AHCA – as of Thursday (12/11/20) AHCA was reporting that of the 464 providers registered in Tellus, there were 23 who had not had visits or claims in the Tellus system.  Similarly, of registered providers, 78 have at least 1 visit in the Tellus system, also with no claims.  All 101 providers had at least one recipient with an active PA.  

The good news here, in addition to having registered, approximately 80% of providers have successfully attempted billing through Tellus.  Unfortunately, the window for billing through FMMIS is closing, effective December 21, 2020.  Claims made through FMMIS after that time will be denied.

So, please Communicate Your Tellus Challenges! 

If you encounter problems with PAs, scheduling events, missing or changed scheduled events, errors in visit location, lack of Tellus response or billing issues, please contact Damon Rich at AHCA.  Please use the Subject line, “FABA Referral” and avoid bombarding a variety of AHCA staff, so that your concerns are directly seen by Damon Rich.  Damon’s email is [email protected].

Please remember, if there is no PHI involved in your message, also copy the FABA PAC, [email protected], so we can assist you and work with AHCA

Thanks again for staying engaged with us as we work with AHCA to continue attempting to get EVV problems resolved.  Your continued sharing of your EVV challenges helps us put a face on continued EVV problems when meeting with AHCA.  Each day there are incremental improvements resulting from your input!

Regards, Steve Coleman, BCBA-D

FABA’s Public Policy Director

FABA EVV Action Committee Update - December 7, 2020

Here’s where we are today – on Friday (12/4/20) AHCA was initially reporting that they had determined that there were 144 out of 470 providers unregistered in the Tellus EVV System.  Later, they determined 12 of the 144 were still billing directly to FMMIS, although they were unregistered with Tellus.   It was also speculated that at least some of the 144 unregistered providers may not have been providing services and subsequently never registered.  Over the weekend, apparently, 3 more providers have registered, leaving 9 providers having a restriction on their file.  The good news is that most providers have registered.

The next hurdle for providers is to attempt to submit at least some claims to show a good faith effort to use Tellus for billing.  If there is no billing through Tellus, all claims submitted directly to FMMIS will suspend until AHCA can document the provider has begun using the Tellus EVV System to submit claims. Once confirmed, the claims in FMMIS will be released for payment without any further action by the provider.  Providers will not need to resubmit the claims.

So, please Attempt to Bill through Tellus! 

If you encounter problems billing through Tellus, please contact Damon Rich at AHCA.  Please use the Subject line, “FABA Referral” and avoid bombarding a variety of AHCA staff, so that your concerns are directly seen by Damon Rich.  His email is [email protected].

Thank you for staying engaged with us as we work with AHCA to continue attempting to get EVV problems resolved.  Your continuing response to surveys and sharing your EVV challenges with us and AHCA have been most helpful and are resulting in improvements to the system!

Regards, Steve Coleman, BCBA-D

FABA’s Public Policy Director

FABA EVV Action Committee Update

The FABA EVV Action Committee continues to meet regularly with AHCA. If you did not read the AHCA Alert from 11/25/20 you should know that as of Monday, December 7th, the Agency for Health Care Administration will be enforcing the use of the Tellus EVV System. This means that all Behavior Analysis Fee-for-Service providers funded through Medicaid must be registered in the Tellus system. If you are not registered in the Tellus system as of Monday you will no longer be able to bill through FMMIS. If you are NOT REGISTERED all claims submitted directly to FMMIS will suspend until the Agency confirms that you have registered and begun using the Tellus EVV System at least for scheduling and visit verification.

So, PLEASE REGISTER as soon as possible, if you have not done so already. If you are having PROBLEMS REGISTERING please contact Damon Rich at AHCA. His email is [email protected] Please use the Subject line, FABA Referral and avoid bombarding a variety of AHCA staff, so that your concerns are directly seen by Damon Rich.

Also, if you are not providing PHI, please copy the FABA PAC, [email protected], so we can assist you and work with AHCA to assure you get registered.

Click below to view a job aid, “AHCA BA Registration Process” that should help walk you through the registration process.

AHCA - Registering Your Agency with Tellus EVV

Update from the FABA EVV Action Committee

The FABA EVV Action Committee met with AHCA this morning and we believe that some additional flexibility with the December 1^st “go live” implementation of the EVV system has been achieved.  These flexibilities will help to ease providers into full implementation over the month of December.  This will mean that providers in the pilot areas (Area 9, 10 and 11) in South Florida will need to demonstrate a good faith effort to attempt implementation of all aspects of the EVV system.

The demonstration of participation will be monitored for all providers in these areas and FABA will be meeting weekly with AHCA to review this progress and update membership.  In the first phase this will mean that ALL providers must register and create an account in the system.  Currently, it appears that only 40% of providers in the Region are registered, while the data is showing that 98% of registered providers have a least 1 recipient listed.  In addition, providers need to attempt scheduling in the system, as only 72% of those currently registered are actually using the system to do this.  Lastly, attempts should be made to bill.  Currently, only 39% of those registered in the system have attempted billing.

To move this system forward, FABA strongly encourages providers to register into the system immediately.  If problems are encountered with registering, AHCA wants to know that so they can address the problem.  The same is true for scheduling and conducting sessions.  Similarly, as providers begin the transition of billing from FLEMMIS to Tellus, AHCA will need to know of any problems with this process.  Part of the agreement is to allow use of FLMMIS, if needed, until December 21st.

Any problems that you encounter should be sent to AHCA through encrypted mail or with a password protected Word document, followed by the emailed password.  AHCA has advised that you are more than welcome to continue copying Tellus, but AHCA will take lead on any direct referrals sent to them.  This means they will either resolve the issue directly without Tellus involvement, or specifically direct Tellus actions for prompt intervention and resolution.  

• You can email the following individuals:
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• Subject Line: FABA Referral –
• Specific Example when available
• Include at a minimum, when applicable:
• Date of issue
• Provider ID
• Recipient ID
• Address/Service Location
• Tellus Ticket number if one has been opened
• If you are not providing PHI, please copy the FABA PAC, political[email protected], so we can continue to aggregate the data and conduct follow-up with AHCA during our weekly reviews.

Post-2020 Session – Legislative Update – HB 731, Agency for Health Care Administration

Governor DeSantis did sign HB 731 – Agency for Health Care Administration on June 30, 2020, that contains an exemption from the health care clinic licensure for Medicaid providers. Now that the exemption is law, it is our understanding, after speaking with the Medicaid Policy Office at AHCA that the exemption will be automatic for behavior analysts enrolled as Medicaid providers and no further action will be needed to be taken by Medicaid providers. We also expect the Agency to announce that the December 1, 2020, health care clinic licensure requirement deadline for behavior analysis groups will be repealed from the Medicaid Enrollment Handbook and that administrative rulemaking will be necessary to effectuate the change. We are anticipating a Provider Alert soon from AHCA on this matter. Please stay tuned and attend the September  17, 2020, panel discussion with AHCA, APD, and CASP at 4pm during the 2020 FABA Conference for further information.