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Pharmacy Claims API

E1 Eligibility API

Verify pharmacy benefit eligibility before submitting claims. Check Commercial, Medicare Part D, and Medicare Part A/B coverage with a single POST request.

Three payer types, one endpoint

Commercial

BIN: 014765 | PCN: COM

Searches across all participating PBMs. Returns other_payers with BIN/PCN/Group/Cardholder to use for B1 billing.

~80-85% match rate depending on PBM eligibility file submissions

Medicare Part D

BIN: 011727 | PCN: 2222222222

Returns Medicare info including LICS level (subsidy tier 0-5), plan type (MAPD/PDP), coverage dates, and payer records for billing.

Cardholder ID accepts full SSN, last 4 SSN, or MBI

Medicare Part A/B

BIN: 012361 | PCN: 2222222222

Returns coverage type (Part A only, Part B only, or both). Useful for DME billing, vaccine billing, and Medicare ID lookup.

Cardholder ID accepts full SSN, last 4 SSN, or MBI

Check eligibility

terminal
curl -X POST https://starlight.claims/api/v1/eligibility \
  -H "X-API-Key: sk_live_your_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "patient": {
      "first_name": "JANE",
      "last_name": "DOE",
      "date_of_birth": "19850115",
      "gender": "F",
      "zip_code": "12345"
    },
    "insurance": {
      "bin_number": "014765",
      "pcn": "COM",
      "cardholder_id": "ABC123456789"
    }
  }'
Response
{
  "status": "Eligible",
  "patient_confirmed": {
    "first_name": "JANE",
    "last_name": "DOE",
    "date_of_birth": "19850115"
  },
  "other_payers": [
    {
      "bin_number": "610014",
      "pcn": "OHPBCBS",
      "group_id": "XYZ123",
      "cardholder_id": "ABC123456789"
    }
  ]
}

Minimum fields for matching

Required — Patient

  • › first_name
  • › last_name
  • › date_of_birth
  • › gender
  • › zip_code

Required — Insurance

  • › bin_number
  • › pcn
  • › cardholder_id

Add city, state, group_id, person_code, relationship_code for higher match rates.

NCPDP E1 vs X12 270/271

Pharmacy eligibility uses the NCPDP E1 transaction — completely separate from the X12 270/271 used for medical eligibility. Different protocol, different routing, different payer infrastructure.

Most "eligibility API" vendors only handle X12 270/271 (medical). Starlight handles the pharmacy side — NCPDP E1 through the pharmacy claims switch network.

Common use cases

  • Verify coverage before submitting a B1 claim — avoid unnecessary rejections
  • Discover patient's pharmacy BIN/PCN/Group for billing (returned in other_payers)
  • Check Medicare Part D plan details and subsidy levels (LICS)
  • Confirm Medicare Part A/B coverage for DME and vaccine billing
  • Patient lookup when insurance card is unavailable
  • Automated eligibility sweeps for pharmacy management systems

Check eligibility in seconds

One endpoint, three payer types. Commercial, Medicare Part D, Medicare Part A/B.