How does CMS interpret the three-year Statute of Limitations?

On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, the CRC had a Town Hall conference in relation to NGHP recovery. The big news coming out of today’s question and answer segment was how does the three-year statute of limitations apply to recovery efforts by the CRC and BCRC?

According to Tuesday’s Town Hall, it does not apply to CMS contractors recovering on their behalf as this recovery is considered an “administrative” task. CMS’s interpretation of the statute is that the three-year statute of limitations only applies to legal actions brought by CMS (i.e. CMS pursing double damages). Operating under this interpretation of the statute, the CRC and/or BCRC can recovery conditional payments indefinitely.

This is drastically different from the previous stance, as arguments based upon statute of limitations was historically accepted by CMS. Under this interpretation, the CRC or BCRC could potentially attempt to collect on claims that have been closed for more than three (3) years. From a practice standpoint, this could be especially frustrating as Claimants no longer have an incentive to cooperate in the process.

The other aspects of Tuesday’s call revolved around Pre-CPN worksheets and Open Debt reports. While this information is highly beneficial to Responsible Reporting Entities (RREs) the access to these reports is still only available to an RRE’s MSPRP Account Manager. Therefore, one must be the RRE on file in order to access this specific information. To date, this information is not even available to the RRE’s assigned Recovery Agent. Thus, in order for an RRE to obtain this information, you will need to have an account on the MSPRP.

It appears while bringing the portal up to the technologic times, CMS is still restricting access to much of the beneficial information the portal offers and is requiring strict standards in accessing this data.

Another point of interest is what CMS didn’t say about penalties regarding Section 111 reporting. Although it has continually been hinted at being implemented, CMS did not discuss this topic at the Town Hall Meeting. This, however, does not mean that they may not make an announcement in the near future about this issue.

The slides and transcript from Tuesday’s Town Hall should be posted on the CMS website within a few weeks for those that would like to see the entirety of the presentation.

WCMSA REFERENCE GUIDE 3.0 EMPHASIZES ADMINISTRATION

Several changes regarding administration details have been made in Version 3.0. The biggest changes include new Consent Form language for WCMSA submissions requiring the Beneficiary acknowledge his or her understanding of administration, references to Medicare Part D coverage guidelines for Frequently Abused Drugs, and a link for professional administrators to upload account transactions and view account details. Also, among these significant changes are the extension of Amended Review timeframes and hospital fee clarifications.

It must be the end of October, as the Medicare Secondary Payer industry is seeing new program changes, with plenty more in sight. Today the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services disseminated the updated Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA) Reference Guide version 3.0, dated October 10, 2019. The 3.0 Reference Guide is geared toward greater emphasis on Medicare Set-Aside administration, from several different fronts. Proper administration of CMS-approved Medicare Set-Asides ensures the preservation of post-account exhaustion Medicare entitlements. So is this emphasis on administration a warning signal of Medicare benefit jeopardization and/or increased vigilance in monitoring accounts on Medicare’s part?

CONSENT FORMS

In Section 10.2, Consent to Release Note, Version 3.0 adds the following language:

“As of April 1, 2020, all consent-to-release notes must include language indicating that the beneficiary reviewed the submission package and understands the WCMSA intent, submission process, and associated administration. This section of the consent form must include at least the beneficiary’s initials to indicate their validation.”

It has been independently confirmed by CMS that current Consent Forms do not require this content prior to April 1, 2020. Figure 10-2: Example Consent to Release with Instructions, illustrates the location of the initial line and provides the necessary language to pass muster with CMS. Such language brings to mind the Medicare Learning Network literature of the last several years, which directed medical providers, suppliers and facilities to direct bill Beneficiaries with Medicare Set-Aside accounts, so that Medicare would not be billed when a case reached settlement, judgment, award or other payment. Including this new language in the Consent Form documents the Beneficiary’s awareness of, and agreement with, a Medicare Set-Aside and its content, as well as the intent, process and administration of an MSA, all prior to submission. While Beneficiaries and their attorneys have always had access to the contents of a submitted Medicare Set-Aside and supporting documentation, this adds a new layer of accountability for the Beneficiary in the Medicare Set-Aside process.

FREQUENTLY ABUSED DRUGS

Version 3.0 includes a new provision in Section 17.1 Administrators, which explains account administration. New language states, “CMS highly recommends professional administration where a claimant is taking controlled substances that CMS determines are ‘frequently abused drugs’ according to CMS’ Part D Drug Utilization Review (DUR) policy. That policy and supporting information are available on the web at:
https://cms.gov/Medicare/Prescription-Drug-Coverage/PrescriptionDrugCovContra/RxUtilization.html

Further, Section 17.3 Use of the Account, also includes new language reinforcing the latter provision: “CMS expects that WCMSA funds be competently administered in accordance with all Medicare coverage guidelines, including but not limited to CMS’ Part D Drug Utilization Review (DUR) policy. As a result, all WCMSA administration programs should institute Drug Management Programs (DMPs) (as described at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-04-16/pdf/2018-07179.pdf) for claimants at risk for abuse or misuse of ‘frequently abused drugs’.”

This aspect of the Reference Guide reflects Medicare’s new prescription drug policy that had started January 1, 2019 in which Part D plan sponsors could adopt drug management programs concerning beneficiary use of frequently abused drugs in an effort to combat opioid overuse as per the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA).

ADMINISTRATION LINKS

In Version 2.9, Beneficiaries could review all documents submitted to CMS via http://www.mymedicare.gov. A physical address for also existed for beneficiaries or their representatives to mail exhaustion documentation. Version 3.0 maintains this option in item 17.7, but adds to Section 17.6 Electronic Attestation, options for electronic submissions of annual and final attestations, usable for either self-administered or professionally administered accounts respectively:

For more information about how to submit an attestation electronically, please see the WCMSAP User Guide, at https://www.cob.cms.hhs.gov/WCMSA/assets/wcmsa/userManual/WCMSAUserManual.pdf.

For more information on Professional Administrator accounts, please see the WCMSAP User Guide, at https://www.cob.cms.hhs.gov/WCMSA/assets/wcmsa/userManual/WCMSAUserManual.pdf.

The new links come on the heels of other CMS efforts concerning MSA account administration. On October 17, 2019, disseminated CMS updated its Self-Administration Toolkit for WCMSAs to Version 1.3, dated October 10, 2019, the same date as Version 3.0 of the WCMSA Reference Guide. The Toolkit Version 1.3 can be found here: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coordination-of-Benefits-and-Recovery/Workers-Compensation-Medicare-Set-Aside-Arrangements/Downloads/Self-Administration-Toolkit-for-WCMSAs-Version-1_3.pdf

Additionally, Medicare disseminated information about two new webinars focused on WCMSA Electronic Attestation Enhancements. The first was to be held today for Medicare Beneficiaries and their representatives. https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coordination-of-Benefits-and-Recovery/Workers-Compensation-Medicare-Set-Aside-Arrangements/Downloads/WCMSA-Electronic-Attestation-Enhancement-Webinar-October-30-2019.pdf

The second is to be held November 6, 2019 and is for professional administrators. https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coordination-of-Benefits-and-Recovery/Workers-Compensation-Medicare-Set-Aside-Arrangements/Downloads/WCMSA-Electronic-Attestation-Enhancement-for-Professional-Administrators-Webinar-November-6-2019.pdf

AMENDED REVIEW TIMEFRAME EXTENDED

In its own new Section 16.2 Amended Review, Medicare pushes the timeframe in which an Amended Review will be considered from 12-48 months from the date of the original approval letter to 12-72 months from the original approval. This is a welcome expansion to the workload threshold as many cases more than four years past the original approval date have still not settled. Additional language in Section 16.2 fleshes out details surrounding some of the parameters for Amended Review. With regard to a change in treatment, the new version states that changes in treatment plans won’t be considered without supporting medical documentation. Also, Version 3.0 offers a link for details on electronic submission:

See the WCMSAP User Guide at: https://www.cob.cms.hhs.gov/WCMSA/assets/wcmsa/userManual/WCMSAUserManual. Pdf

HOSPITAL FEE SCHEDULES

The new Reference Guide offers much-needed specificity to the sources of hospital pricing for surgical procedures. In the previous version, Reference Guide 2.9 stated within Section 9.4.3 WCRC Review Considerations, “Currently the WCRC prices WCMSAs according to the correct region for the state of venue. Hospital fee schedules are currently determined using the Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) payment for a Major Medical Center within the state, and this fee is applied to all locations within the state.” Changes to this Section in the 3.0 version are that the hospital fee schedules are determined using DRG payments for the “median” Major Medical Center within the “appropriate fee jurisdiction for the ZIP code, unless otherwise identified by state law.” (Emphasis added).

ADDITIONAL CHANGES:

• Section 2.2 Reporting a WC Case now includes an address change to:

Medicare – Medicare Secondary Payer
Medicare Secondary Payer Claims Investigation Project
P.O. Box 138897
Oklahoma City, OK 73113-8897

• Section 17.5 Annual Attestation and Record-Keeping has clarified the following address for submitting yearly attestation material:

NGHP
P.O. Box 138832
Oklahoma City, OK 73113

• Section 10.3 Rated Age Information and Life Expectancy has been updated to reflect the most recent life table link:

“CMS will project the cost of the claimant’s future treatment over the claimant’s life expectancy, using the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Tables. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_04-508.pdf

NOT IN THE REFERENCE GUIDE, BUT ON THE HORIZON

• Rulemakings! Civil Monetary Penalties for Section 111 Medicare Mandatory Insurer Reporting have not yet been issued. According to the OIRA office, rulemaking should be issued in October of 2019. Similarly situated is possible rulemaking for Liability and No-Fault Medicare Set-Asides, also slated for this month. Both of these items have been collecting dust for years and were scheduled for action in September, which gave way to October. Will what little remaining of October bring the proposed regulations? Or will these rulemakings be pushed into November or beyond?

• Speaking of November, we are only a few weeks away from the annual announcement of the low dollar recovery threshold. Will this amount increase for 2020?

Future updates regarding Medicare Secondary Payer laws will be monitored by the Gordon & Rees Medicare Compliance Team. Please stay tuned for more information as it becomes available!

More Webs in Alabama: District Court Quotes Scott, Dismisses MSPA Claim

A recent determination against Infinity Property and Casualty Group emerging from a federal district court in Alabama demonstrates that while so many MSPA private cause of action claims pose similar legal shortcomings, the courts have no shortage of colorful ways to dismiss them.

Quoting the famous words of Sir Walter Scott, the Opinion opens with “Oh! what a tangled web we weave / When first we practice to deceive!” Dismissing with prejudice MSPA Claims I, LLC’s latest efforts, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division determined on March 19 that subject matter jurisdiction did not exist, thwarting its attempt to “catch a lucrative class action lawsuit under the Medicare Secondary Payer statue.” MSPA v Infinity Prop & Casualty Group, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43620 (2019).

In this case, two separate automobile accidents occurred in which Infinity was the insurance carrier. Medicare beneficiary D.W was enrolled in Part C through Florida Healthcare Plus, Inc. and Medicare beneficiary B.G. was enrolled in Part C through Simply Healthcare Plans, Inc., both of which Plaintiff alleged assigned to it rights under the Medicare Secondary Payer laws to recover medical payments Infinity failed to reimburse.

With regard to D.W., Infinity disputed MSPA’s allegations on the grounds that Infinity had no obligation to pay the FHCP bill of $140.47 as it properly paid all of D.W.’s medical bills with additional medical coverage still available. FHCP assigned its recovery rights to La Ley Recovery Systems in 2014. According to the agreement. La Ley could not assign those rights to a third party without the approval of FHCP’s (or the Florida Department of Financial Services later through receivership).

La Ley attempted to reassign these rights to MSPA in 2015 without approval. While approval was later granted at the time of settlement on June 1, 2016, the court decided the assignments were valid but that FHCP never had standing to bring a claim under the MSP in the first place and FHCP never suffered an injury in fact.

With regard to B.G., the medical coverage with Infinity exhausted. InterAmerican Medical Center Group, LLC served as Simply’s Management Service Organization (MSO). In a tapestry of alleged assignments, Plaintiff claimed Simply contractually assigned recovery rights to InterAmerican, which were in turn assigned to MSP Recovery, LLC, and as “the final strand in its web…” MSP Recovery assigned those rights to Plaintiff.

The Court dismissed the allegations on the grounds that the statute affords recovery rights to MOAs but there is no clear indication that MSOs have these statutory rights.

The Court pointed out “fatal” defects in Plaintiff’s web of assignments, ultimately granting Defendant’s motion for summary judgment due to lack of standing.

Elsewhere on the very same day, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals was busy exterminating another MSPA private cause of action claim. Somehow on the same page with the Alabama court in both legal and literary senses, the 11th Circuit Court wove the web theme into its dismissal. See MSP Recovery Gets Caught in the Tangled Web of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act.

Given the growing body of dismissals, it should be interesting to see how future courts rule on such actions going forward. To discuss this case or other Medicare Secondary Payer matters, please contact Gordon & Rees Medicare Compliance Group.

MSP Recovery Gets Caught in the Tangled Web of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act

In the recent case of MSPA Claims 1, LLC v. Tenet Fla., Inc. the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the holding of the district court, dismissing a case for recovery of payments under the private cause of action of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSP Act). While aspects of the MSP Act can be very convoluted and confusing, especially with regard to the private cause of action for recovery of primary payments, the court here begins its opinion by stating “Luckily, we do not need to venture very far into its tangled web here. The provision at issue in this case is clear, and clearly bars plaintiff’s claim.” See MSPA Claims 1, LLC v. Tenet Fla., Inc. 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 7833.

The court here spends little time examining the makeup and history of the MSP Act; however, reminds us that while the Act has created a private cause of action that permits the government to sue when it is not properly reimbursed by a primary payer, it also provides for a private cause of action for private plaintiffs to recover double damages. The intent of this private cause of action is to encourage private parties to enforce Medicare’s right of recovery against primary payers in the courts. See generally MSPA Claims 1, LLC v. Tenet Fla., Inc. 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 7833. Various courts have held this private cause of action to extend to Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs).

While a detailed rehashing of the facts of this case is not important to understanding the outcome, a brief background will help outline the issue here. In short, one of Florida Healthcare Plus’s (an MAO) enrollees was involved in a car accident and received medical care at St. Mary’s Medical Center. St. Mary’s billed both the enrollee’s primary plan- Allstate, as well as FHCP. FHCP assigned its right of recovery to the Plaintiff in this case MSPA Claims 1, LLC, through a series of assignments. St. Mary’s later reimbursed FHCP in full- $286. However, MSPA Claims brought suit against ST. Mary’s and its parent company Tenet Florida, Inc. for the delayed $286 reimbursement.

The court here determined that FHCP did suffer an injury-in-fact and that MSPA Claims has standing to bring the case and therefore the case was properly in court; however, in order to survive dismissal, the claim must still be plausible. The court reiterates that the MSP Act’s private cause of action is only available in the case in which a primary plan fails to reimburse Medicare, or in this case an MAO. Here, MSPA Claims has sued a medical service provider and not a primary plan. The court reasoned that given the fact that MSPA Claims has not sued a primary plan, its claim is not plausible on its face, and therefore the dismissal based on failure to state a claim issued by the lower court is affirmed.

This dismissal provides another instance of MSP Recovery, LLC getting caught in the tangled web that is the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. The amount in controversy here hints that the purpose of bringing this case was to attempt to gain a favorable decision and to begin to carve a path through the case law to further recovery by MAOs under this provision of the MSP Act. While the private cause of action at issue here is a dangerous one given the double damages provision, this case makes it clear that there is still work to be done in order to weave through this tangled web.

United States Sues Plaintiff Attorney, Medicare Beneficiary, and the Insurer for Conditional Payments in the Middle District of Pennsylvania

On February 26, 2019, the Middle District of Pennsylvania addressed a summary judgment motion brought by the United States against parties to a liability claim that involved a Medicare beneficiary and outstanding conditional payment liens.


The relevant background of the case is that a Medicare beneficiary (Beneficiary) was mistakenly given a medication from a pharmacy which resulted in a sixty-six day hospital stay. During this stay, the Beneficiary incurred nearly $100,000 in treatment bills. As the Beneficiary’s insurer, Medicare paid these bills, of which $84,353 was found to be related to the administration of the mistaken medication. The Beneficiary then filed a lawsuit against the pharmacy and medical care center, represented by Richard Angino of Angino Law Firm (“the Angino Defendants”). During settlement of the claim, the Angino Defendants requested the amount of charges that were paid by Medicare for the associated injury. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported back that $1,212 was paid. This was the amount that was ultimately relied upon at settlement.
As is the procedure, upon notification of settlement, CMS issued a demand of $84,353.00, but reduced it to $53,295.00, accounting for attorney’s fees. CMS also notified the Angino Defendants and the Beneficiary this amount was due in sixty (60) days. This amount was never paid.


CMS then filed a lawsuit under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act, 42 U.S.C § 1395(b)(2)(B) that as a matter of law it was entitled to $84,35.00 plus interest. A motion for summary judgement was filed by the defense. During this time, the Beneficiary passed away and in a separate action, the Beneficiary’s estate challenged the $84,353.00 and asserted that CMS was only due the $53,295.00. However, the lower court found that it did not have jurisdiction. Thus, the Plaintiff argued that Defendants lost their challenge and therefore owe the full $84,353.00. Defendants rebutted this argument on the grounds that although they cannot appeal the lower amount, they can challenge the $84,353.00. Additionally, Defendants claim questions of fact exist as to who would be responsible for payment of any potential excess owed.


Of note, the Defendants set aside the $53,295.000 and attempted to settle the conditional payments. However, CMS pursued litigation and increased the amount owed. As such, the Court agreed that a question of fact existed as to whether or not the Plaintiff had to pursue litigation to collect the amount due and justify raising the amount due. Plaintiff countered that the law provides that where Medicare “must file suit” to recover on the lien, they need not deduct attorney’s fees from the lien amount. 42 C.F.R. § 411.37(e). The Court responded that “at least with the facts which we are presented with, that whether or not the plaintiff had to pursue litigation is a question of fact.” (United States v. Angino, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30499 (February 26, 2019).


As such, the Court found genuine issues of material fact and the summary judgement motion denied.


Practioner’s Note: This case is a reminder of the trouble parties can get into when not properly addressing the conditional payment liens associated with a liability claim. Remembering Shapiro v. Secretary of Department of Health & Human Services, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42278 (March 23, 2017), the 2017 case mirrors the fact pattern at hand, in that the Beneficiary cannot rely upon the interim lien amount and Medicare is entitled to the final conditional payment amount issue after settlement of a claim.

Interestingly, this case has yet to determine who ultimately will be responsible for any excess payments over the $53,295.00. Also worth note, the Beneficiary’s estate, the Beneficiary’s attorney, and the Carrier were all parties to this action. This particular question could potentially have been avoided if only proper settlement language would have been included clarifying which party would be responsible for any overage. This is yet another prompt that settlement language continues to be an important piece to the settlement puzzle.


The Gordon & Rees Medicare Compliance Group will continue to monitor this case and bring you updates as they become available. Please contact me at (412) 588-2283 or rmaldonado@grsm.com should you wish to discuss this or any other Medicare Secondary Payer matters.

CMS Announces Webinars for Upcoming Enhancements to the Medicare Secondary Payment Recovery Portal (MSPRP) and Commercial Repayment Center Portal (CRCP)

CMS  announced two webinars for Upcoming Enhancements to the Medicare Secondary Payment Recovery Portal (MSPRP) and Commercial Repayment Center Portal (CRCP).

More to the point, the webinars will be addressing the fact that that effective April 1, 2019, electronic payment functionality will be added to both the MSPRP and the CRCP.  Taking place on March 13, 2019 for MSPRP users and March 14, 2019 for CRCP users, the webinars will provide more information on this new feature.

Practitioner’s Note: This enhancement could make paying outstanding Medicare conditional payments so much easier for debtors. Instead of sending a check and ensuring it’s applied to the proper claim, this function will hopefully give payers assurance that payment has been received and applied in a prompt manner and cut down on error when applying payments to claims that are not in final demand status. Additionally, it may be interesting to see how this may impact refunds as well.

The Gordon & Rees Medicare Compliance team will continue to follow these trends and update you as new developments arise.

Medicare Coverage App Launches eMedicare

Yesterday CMS announced a new app to display what Medicare Part A & B covers. Per the announcement, “The new ‘What’s Covered’ app lets people with Original Medicare, caregivers and others quickly see whether Medicare covers a specific medical item or service. Consumers can now use their mobile device to more easily get accurate, consistent Original Medicare coverage information in the doctor’s office, the hospital, or anywhere else they use their mobile device.” Unsurprisingly, CMS discussed the need for this app as questions about what Medicare covers are some of the most frequent inquiries that CMS receives.

Interestingly, this app also is reported to enable beneficiaries to connect their claims data to applications and tools developed by innovative private-sector companies to help them understand, use, and share their health data.

As discussed previously, this innovation is in line with the directive from the current administration to move toward more electronic access in regards to healthcare. Specifically, this program is called eMedicare, and some of the purported goals are to allow beneficiaries to examine all available plans and see how different coverage choices will affect out-of-pocket costs.

Practitioner’s Note: This app could be extremely beneficial to beneficiaries who have had a MSA approved and are attempting to appropriately spend down their funds. Additionally, it will be interesting to see if the next version of this new app will include the option to compare Part C plans. Considering the narrative, ease of comparing different Part C plans appears to be an important part of the eMedicare program. However, this does beg the question what exactly is the “health data” they aim to share? 

The Gordon & Rees Medicare Compliance team will continue to follow these trends and update you as new developments arise.

The Ghost of Cases Past – MSPA Claims LLC, v. Scottsdale Insurance Co.

For those familiar with the slew of MSP Recovery cases that have been ruled upon in the past six (6) months, it will come as no surprise that another court, specifically the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, found that MSPA Claims LLC lacked standing when bringing suit against the Defendant.

Echoing the recently decided cases brought by MSP Recovery and its subsidiaries, the Court again in MSPA Claims v. Scottsdale Insurance found that Plaintiff lacked standing as proof of assignment of rights was not present and as such, granted Defendant’s motion for dismissal. Facts that are almost identical to MSPA Claims 1, LLC v. Ocean Harbor and MSPA Claims 1, LLC. v United Auto. Ins. Co., 204  F. Supp. 3d 1342, 1345 (S.D. Fla. 2016), Plaintiff asserted rights were assigned from Florida Healthcare Plus to La Ley Recovery which then assigned rights of recovery to MSP Recovery. The Court disagreed and specifically noted that although Plaintiff argued Florida Healthcare Plus approved assignment to La Ley to MSPA Claims, prior to receivership, the assignment did not predate the receivership. More pointedly, the Court stated it “is unclear how Florida Healthcare Plus could have approved the assignment…valid if MSP Claims was not yet formed as a company in 2014 when the receiver took over Florida Healthcare Plus[1].”

As such, the Court granted Defendant’s motion for dismissal without prejudice.

With yet another ruling dismissing a claim brought by MSP Recovery, the Floridian courts appear to sharpen their scrutiny regarding cases brought by assignees of rights by Medicare Advantage Plans. The pressing question however, is will other jurisdictions look to these cases as persuasive case law in their own courts? The Gordon Rees Medicare Group will continue to monitor these cases and bring you updates as they become available.


[1] MSPA Claims 1. LLC v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 218675

CMS Finishes New Medicare Card Distribution Initiative

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recently published a press release stating that it has completed its initiative of issuing new Medicare cards to all beneficiaries with new Medicare identification numbers as of January 16, 2019. The purpose of this initiative was to replace all Social Security number based HICNs with the new Medicare ID number, the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) which is a randomly generated series of letters and numbers, as opposed to being based on an individual’s Social Security number, in turn adding a layer of security against identity theft and fraud and abuse. Specifically, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 requires CMS to remove Social Security Numbers (SSNs) from all Medicare cards and to reissue new non-Social Security number based Medicare identification numbers by April 2019. The issuing of this bulletin indicates that CMS has completed this project of replacing all existing Medicare cards three months ahead of schedule. The full press release can be found here.

CMS states that the current administration is “committed to modernizing Medicare and has expedited this process to ensure the protection of Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayer dollars from the potential for fraud and abuse due to personal information that existed on the old cards.” CMS further asserts that more than half of the healthcare claims that it is now processing now contain an MBI.

CMS has previously outlined that it has exempted all Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Processes from exclusive use of MBI for the time being. That is, for Section 111 reporting Responsible Reporting Entities (RREs) may continue to perform Section 111 reporting processes using an individual’s full SSN, HICN, or MBI. The Section 111 User Guide states that if a HICN is reported, and the individual has been assigned an MBI, the MBI will be returned on the response file. Further, CMS has also previously stated that all Benefits Coordination and Recovery Center (BCRC) and Commercial Repayment Center (CRC) issued correspondence will use the most recent Medicare identifier that the RRE has provided when creating or updating a Medicare Secondary Payer record. In short, while the use of the HICN will continue to decrease until only the MBI is in use, CMS will not yet have any issue processing claims using an individual’s HICN (if one was previously issued to the individual).

As increasing personal security was the purpose of replacing the previous Medicare cards, CMS recommends that all beneficiaries destroy their old Medicare cards, begin using the new Medicare card immediately, and to protect your Medicare card just like a credit card. Further, in the event that a Medicare beneficiary has not received his or her new Medicare card, CMS recommends contacting 1-800-Medicare or logging in to the beneficiary’s mymedicare.gov account to ensure that their contact and mailing information is accurate.

Gordon & Rees remains committed to bringing you the most up to date information regarding all things Medicare Secondary Payer. Accordingly, we will continue to provide any updates regarding the use of MBIs as they are released. Should you have any questions regarding the above or need any Medicare compliance assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Gordon & Rees Medicare Compliance Group.

CMS Issues updated Section 111 NGHP User Guide

As of January 4, 2019, CMS has issued an updated version of the MMSEA Section 111 NGHP User Guide. While version 5.5 of the User Guide has few changes, there are some noteworthy additions. The changes made to the latest version of the User Guide are as follows:

– Ch. III of the User Guide now clarifies that beginning January 1, 2019, the threshold for liability insurance settlements, judgments, awards, or other payments will remain at $750. CMS will also maintain the $750 threshold for no-fault insurance and workers’ compensation settlements, where the no-fault insurer or workers’ compensation entity does not otherwise have ongoing responsibly for medicals. This is outlined in Section 6.4 of Ch. III and in short, simply restates the fact that the TPOC dollar thresholds remain at $750 for liability, no-fault, and workers’ compensation insurance.

– The definition of the ‘Funding Delayed Beyond TPOC Start Date 1’ data field has been updated. This definition can be found in line 82 of Table A-3 and states “If funding is determined after the settlement date (TPOC Date), provide actual or estimated date of funding determination.” The previous definition simply stated “If funding for the TPOC Amount is delayed, provide actual or estimated date of funding.” The same verbiage has been added to lines 95, 98, 101, and 104 of Table A-5 Auxiliary Record, updating the definition of this field for all possible additional TPOCs (TPOCs 2 – 5).

– Ch. IV of the User Guide also provides updated versions of the excluded ICD-9 and ICD-10 tables in order to match the excluded lists that are available through the Section 111 MRA application (https://www.cob.cms.hhs.gov/Section111). These tables can be found in Appendices I and J.

– Lastly, version 5.5 of the User Guide has been updated to only include information from the last four User Guide releases in order to reduce the number of version and revision history pages.

Each chapter of the Section 111 NGHP User Guide, version 5.5 can be downloaded here.

Should you have any questions regarding the above or need any Medicare compliance assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Gordon & Rees Medicare Compliance Group.