JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — This Memorial Day, clinicians who help fight the mental battles that many who serve in our armed forces face after returning home are facing a crisis of their own.
Hundreds of mental health practitioners serving veterans across the country, including some here locally, are being told they have to pay back thousands - even tens of thousands of dollars - in alleged overpayments.
The overpayments are being sought from mental health providers serving veterans through the VA’s Community Care Network in the Central and Eastern US.
Clinicians like Lori Beard, who runs a clinic in Jacksonville, began receiving letters in May from Optum, which is the third-party company that acts as the middleman between the VA and clinicians, asking for the overpayments to be repaid.
One of the letters Beard received told her she had 30 days to pay back more than $13,000 in alleged overpayments.
She’s received additional letters as well, totaling more than $21,000.
And she said she’s been told two more letters are still in the mail.
“Imagine not getting paid for several months. That’s what we’re looking at here. And I don’t know how we can stay in business and do that,” said Beard.
Beard explained Optum changed how much it paid clinicians back in July of 2024, going from 100 percent down to 75 percent of the fee rate set by CMS.
Now, the company is seeking to collect on the 25 percent it claims to have overpaid for services for the first seven months of that year.
“Big companies like this have errors and omissions insurance. Not to get political. They could reduce their annual bonuses a little bit to cover some of this,” said Beard. “But that’s not what they’re willing to do. They want to take it from the clinicians.”
And Beard argued with some providers considering leaving the network or even being forced to close up shop, the veteran population they serve could be left without critical mental health services.
“A lot of these veterans have a diagnosis of chronic PTSD, meaning they have PTSD that they experience symptoms of on a daily basis. They’re gonna lose their support system,” said Beard. ”I mean, I’m concerned they’re gonna see this on the news and be worried about their services, but the reality is this is happening and we’re going to have to decide pretty quickly what we’re gonna do.”
Action News Jax reached out to Optum for comment on this story and asked what the company is doing to try and work with impacted clinicians.
We have not heard back.
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