JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After an Action News Jax investigation, mental health clinicians serving veterans through the VA’s Community Care Network are finally receiving written confirmation they won’t have to pay back thousands of dollars in alleged overpayments.
On Memorial Day, Action News Jax first told you how mental health providers serving veterans through the VA’s Community Care Network got letters telling them they owed thousands of dollars in alleged overpayments dating back to 2024.
Lori Beard, who runs Therapy for Living in Jacksonville, was told she owed more than $23,000, which put her clinic at risk of closing its doors for good.
“But there were hundreds of providers affected by this,” said Beard.
Earlier this month, we told you the third-party payment processor, Optum, announced it ceased its collection efforts after Action News Jax began asking questions.
But Beard and other providers were still hesitant to take Optum at its word without written confirmation.
Beard showed us some providers continued receiving collection letters even after Optum announced its resolution.
Optum addressed the late collection letter we obtained.
“The notice did not account for the resolution that was finalized shortly thereafter. The provider will be receiving written notification in the coming days confirming what was communicated verbally, that Optum Serve will not pursue the recoupment,” said an Optum spokesperson in an emailed statement.
“We can blame the post office for delivering these letters late. So, if they’re still trickling in, we think it’s a past issue,” said Congressman Aaron Bean (R-FL4th District).
Bean worked behind the scenes with Optum and the VA to help resolve the situation.
“Because you called them out on it, we called them out on it, I think it was a team effort,” said Bean. “And once again we put veterans in the center in the care that they were promised and should get.”
Now, Action News Jax has confirmed providers like Beard are finally receiving letters from Optum confirming the resolution.
And she said she believes our coverage on the issue played a big part.
“I believe it’s been instrumental,” said Beard. ”I think this resolution is great. I got a letter saying I would not have to pay $23,681 back, which was a big relief. I just hope going forward that they treat us with a little more dignity and respect.”
Over the past two weeks, we’ve heard from providers from several eastern and central states who saw our story and told us they were going through the same ordeal.
It’s still unclear exactly how many providers across the country were impacted and the total scope of the alleged overpayments.
Optum and the VA declined to answer questions addressing those details.
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