Once again, the bottom-feeders at Three Rivers Provider Network (TRPN) DirectPay are up to something fishy with their latest attempt to bait providers.

The discount contracting entity sent a provider a fax invoking the federal No Surprises Act (a law unrelated to workers' comp) as a cover for its actual goal: to get the provider to route its electronic bills (e-bills) to TRPN instead of the appropriate payer.

TRPN has a long history of using misleading messages to get its hands on providers’ bills to impose discounts.

The No Surprises Act protects patients with private health insurance from unexpected medical bills. It does not apply to workers’ compensation reimbursements in any way. To our knowledge, TRPN has no role in authorizing or arranging medical care for injured workers, and no legitimate claim to a provider's workers' comp billing information.

Providers, whatever you receive from TRPN DirectPay should go directly from your fax machine to your shredder.

TRPN’s Bait & Switch

A daisyBill provider received the TRPN fax below, nominally about “No Surprises Act Transparency,” and contacted our team to ask whether the message was a “scam.” The fax instructs providers to have their billing vendor submit e-bills using a TRPN Payer ID number: TRDP1.

TRPN implies that this somehow protects providers from  “line-item denials and silent Discount Arrangements.” “Silent” discount arrangements are a problem in workers’ comp. However, there is no reason whatsoever to believe that TRPN offers any protection against this (TRPN has in fact been credibly accused of imposing its own “silent” discounts).

Providers should ask themselves why a discount contracting entity, one with no role in their workers’ comp claims, is so eager to get its hands on their e-bills before the actual payer does.

Providers, do not send your e-bills to TRPN.

All of your bills should go to the claims administrator responsible for the claim, full stop. The fax includes instructions for opting out of future spam from TRPN, helpfully noting that if the provider jumps through the designated hoops, TRPN’s failure to comply with the opt-out request “is unlawfully.”

This Is Not TRPN's First Scheme

TRPN has been running some version of this playbook for nearly twenty years:

• 2007: American Medical News reported TRPN faxed providers what looked like a request for tax information. It was actually an agreement to a 25% reimbursement discount.
• 2007: The National Association of Social Workers' New York City chapter warned of aggressive robo-calls from TRPN demanding tax information. Providers who complied were enrolled into discount agreements.
• 2011: The IRS raided TRPN in connection with an investigation into founder Blaine Pollock, who later took a plea deal for financial crimes.
• 2021: The California Medical Association reported on TRPN’s “illegal” and “deceptive” practice of sending checks to providers that, once cashed, enroll the provider in a discount agreement.
• 2021: The Georgia Insurance Commissioner issued a cease-and-desist order against TRPN over the check scheme.
• 2023: daisyNews published a series of articles on TRPN’s check scheme and a provider’s successful pushback.
• 2024: daisyNews reported TRPN combining the No Surprises Act pitch with one of its poison-pill checks.

Providers, ignore whatever TRPN sends you, and instruct your staff not to sign any document or deposit any check from this notoriously shady organization.

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