Alere Provides Additional Information Regarding Arriva Medical On Its Website

WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Alere Inc. (NYSE: ALR), a global leader in rapid diagnostic tests, today announced that it has posted a fact sheet on its website providing additional information regarding its subsidiary Arriva Medical, LLC's relationship with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and its enrollment in the National Mail Order Competition Bid Program ("Program") for Diabetes Testing Supplies (DTS). Arriva is fully accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) and recognized as a leader in compliance.

The fact sheet highlights, among other things, the data that supports Alere's belief that the Medicare claims in question were submitted in response to valid refill orders from Medicare beneficiaries or their caregivers, and that Arriva has not received or retained improper reimbursement for these claims:

• Arriva is the largest Contract Supplier under the Medicare National Mail Order Competitive Bid Program, having been a trusted supplier to CMS for more than seven years.
• During the past five years, Arriva has serviced over 970,000 Medicare beneficiaries, resulting in nearly 5.8 million claims.
• Arriva services more than 500,000 Medicare beneficiaries annually, more than half of the National Mail Order Program for DTS.
• CMS alleges that there were 211 claims for deceased patients during the five-year period from April 15, 2011, through April 25, 2016; however, the CMS letter only identifies a sample of 47 such patients, upon which our review was based. The 211 claims allegedly at issue constitute approximately 0.00038% of Arriva's nearly 5.8 million total claims during that period.
• Updates to the HIPAA Eligibility Tracking System (HETS), which is the CMS system used to determine Medicare beneficiary eligibility (including dates of death), often are not made in sufficient time to allow suppliers to identify deceased patients prior to billing for properly initiated reorders of covered medical supplies.
• Arriva's access to HETS was restricted by agreement with CMS, causing further limitations on beneficiary eligibility verifications.

Alere believes this matter is a consequence of the challenges in obtaining timely and accurate beneficiary eligibility data from CMS.

The fact sheet can be accessed on Alere's website at http://www.alere.com/en/home.html.  

About Alere
Alere believes that when diagnosing and monitoring health conditions, Knowing now matters™. Alere delivers reliable and actionable information by providing rapid diagnostic tests, enhancing clinical and economic healthcare outcomes globally. Headquartered in Waltham, Mass., Alere focuses on rapid diagnostics for cardiometabolic disease, infectious disease and toxicology. For more information on Alere, please visit www.alere.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This communication (and those referenced in this communication) contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding Arriva's commitment to its patients and the Medicare program; the potential impact of the revocation of Arriva's Medicare enrollment, including with respect to the risks to beneficiaries and the National Mail Order DTS program and CMS policy and any other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects of the board or management of the Company. Readers can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "could," "should," "would," "intend," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "continue" or similar words. A number of important factors could cause actual results of Alere and its subsidiaries to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to the risk factors detailed in Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors," of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 (as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 8, 2016) and other risk factors identified herein or from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC. Readers should carefully review these risk factors, and should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information, plans and estimates at the date of this communication. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, new information, future events or other changes.

SOURCE Alere Inc.

Related Links

http://www.alere.com