CMS Terminates Voluntary WC Data Match Program

CMS has formally terminated the voluntary WC Data Match program that it instituted several years ago. With the enactment of Section 111 Mandatory Insurance Company reporting the voluntary program afforded to States and Insurance Company has been terminated.

In a letter to those participating CMS stated:

"This voluntary reporting arrangement has now ended. On July 1, 2009, Section 111 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act (the MMSEA) became effective for Workers’ Compensation insurance coverage. As of that date, the reporting of Workers’ Compensation information in support of Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) determinations by CMS became mandatory. All existing voluntary reporting arrangements involving Workers’ Compensation programs are now null and void.

"July 1, 2009, is the date Section 111 reporting became effective, but it is not the date that states will begin to report Workers’ Compensation information under the Section 111 requirements. In summary, states that will be reporting Workers’ Compensation data through the Section 111 process are required to register for Section 111 reporting by September 30, 2009. The testing of the electronic data exchange process will start January 1, 2010. The first “production” file exchanges will start April 1, 2010.

"The process for arranging Section 111 reporting, and all the reporting timeline benchmarks that have been established are described in full on the Section 111 Website, www.cms.hhs.gov/mandatoryinsrep . The current version of the “NGHP User Guide” and additional instructions needed to report Workers’ Compensation information are located on the Website’s “Liability Insurance, Self-Insurance, No-Fault Insurance and Workers Compensation (NGHP)” page."