As part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) efforts to continuously improve its Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) program; CMS has posted the following information to the MSP websites:
1) An ALERT delaying the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (MMSEA) Section 111 MSP reporting requirement for certain liability insurance (including self-insurance) settlements, judgments, awards, or other payments is now posted at
www.cms.gov/MandatoryInsRep.
2) Policy guidance related to Exposure, Ingestion, and Implantation issues, and December 5, 1980, is now posted at
www.cms.gov/MandatoryInsRep and
www.cms.gov/COBGeneralInformation.
3) An ALERT related to Qualified Settlement Funds, under Section 468B of the Internal Revenue Code, is now posted at
www.cms.gov/MandatoryInsRep.
4) A policy memorandum, for liability insurance (including self-insurance), on the acceptance of the treating physician's certification, and its impact on the issue of protecting Medicare's interests with respect to future medicals is now posted at
www.cms.gov/COBGeneralInformation.
In addition, on September 30, 2011, the MSPRC will implement a self-service information feature to its customer service line. This feature gives callers the ability to get the most up-to-date Demand/Conditional Payment amounts, and the dates that those letters were issued, without having to speak to a customer service representative. The self-service feature will be available for extended hours, and callers will have the option of requesting information on multiple cases during one phone call.
Beginning in October 2011, CMS will implement an option to pay a fixed percentage of certain physical trauma-based liability cases with settlement amounts of $5000 or less. Detailed information on this option will be posted as an ALERT, on or before October 21, 2011, on the MSPRC website at
www.MSPRC.info.
Upcoming improvements to the MSP program, expected within the next 3-9 months, include the following:
• The implementation of a MSPRC portal, where the beneficiary/representative can obtain information about Medicare's claim payments, demand letters, etc., and input information related to a settlement, disputed claims, etc.
• The implementation of an option that allows for an immediate payment to Medicare for future medical costs that are claimed/released/effectively released in a settlement.
• The implementation of a process that provides Medicare's conditional payment amount, prior to settlement in certain situations.
