June 24, 2005

Change in the First Level of Appeal: Redeterminations

CMS
June 09, 2005

A redetermination is an examination of a claim by Carrier personnel who are independent of the personnel who made the initial determination. The appellant (the individual filing the appeal) has 120 days from the date of receipt of the initial claim determination to file an appeal. A redetermination can be requested in writing or over the telephone to the local Medicare Carrier. No monetary threshold is required to be met.

Requesting a Redetermination in Writing

A request for a redetermination can be filed on Form CMS-20027 or in writing. The request must include:

  • Beneficiary name
  • Medicare Health Insurance Claim (HIC) number
  • Specific service and/or item(s) for which a redetermination is being requested
  • Specific date(s) of service
  • Signature of the party or the appointed representative of the party

With a written request, the appellant should attach any supporting documentation.


National Provider Identifier

CMS
Instructions for Provider Notification

Between May 23, 2005 and January 02, 2006 CMS claims processing systems will accept an existing legacy Medicare number and reject, as unprocessable, any claim that includes only an National Provider Identifier (NPI).

Beginning January 03, 2006, and through October 01, 2006, CMS systems will accept an existing legacy Medicare number or an NPI as long as it is accompanied by an existing legacy Medicare number.

Beginning October 02, 2006, and through May 22, 2007, CMS systems will accept an existing legacy Medicare number and/or an NPI. This will allow for 6–7 months of provider testing before only an NPI will be accepted by the Medicare Program on May 23, 2007.

Beginning May 23, 2007 CMS systems will only accept an NPI.

Apply for an National Provider Identifier on the CMS website. To request a paper application, call 1-800-465-3203.


New Remittance Advice for Referred Duplicate Services

CMS  MM3679

  Publication Date: June 10, 2005
  Effective Date: July 01, 2005

Effective April 01, 2005, CMS implemented a new Common Working File (CWF) edit to check for duplicate claims for referred clinical diagnostic laboratory services and purchased diagnostic services submitted by suppliers to more than one carrier. (Per Transmittal 124, Change Request 3551)

Claims submitted for referred clinical diagnostic/purchased diagnostic services will be considered duplicate when:

  • The claims contain different carrier numbers;

and

  • All of the data matches on the following claim fields:
  • Beneficiary Name
  • Beneficiary Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN)
  • Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Code
  • Date of Service
  • CPT Code Modifier.

The CWF duplicate claim edit will apply only to:

  • Claims containing a CPT code that is included on the clinical laboratory fee schedule

Effective for claims processed on or after July 1, 2005, CMS will implement a new Remittance Advice (RA) message for claim items denied due to the CWF duplicate claim edit for referred clinical diagnostic/purchased diagnostic service claims:

  • Carriers will use remark code (N347) on remittance advice notices generated for a referred clinical diagnostic/purchased diagnostic service claim line item denied as a duplicate of a previously paid service: “Your claim for a referred or purchased service cannot be paid because payment has already been made for this service to another provider by a payment contractor representing this payer.”


Temporary Change to Carrier Jurisdictional Pricing Rule for Referred Services

CMS  Revised MM3630

  Publication Date: December 23, 2004
  Effective Date: January 01, 2005

Effective for claims with dates of service on or after April 01, 2004, Medicare carriers must use the zip code of the location where the service was rendered to determine both the carrier jurisdiction for processing the claim and the correct payment locality for any service paid under the MPFS (see the Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Pub.100-04), Chapter 1, Section 10.1.1).

Since the implementation of carrier jurisdictional pricing edits on April 01, 2004, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has received reports that, due to current enrollment restrictions, some physicians/suppliers purchasing diagnostic tests/interpretations are unable to receive reimbursement for these services when the services are performed outside of their local carrier’s jurisdiction.

This article and related CR3630 address these reported problems by temporarily changing the carrier jurisdictional pricing rules that apply when billing for an out-of-jurisdiction area purchased diagnostic service. Carrier jurisdictional pricing rules for all other services payable under the MPFS remain in effect.

Until further notice:

  • Physicians/suppliers must bill their local carrier for all purchased diagnostic tests/interpretations, regardless of the location where the service was furnished
  • The billing physician/supplier must:
  • Ensure that the physician/supplier that furnished the purchased test/interpretation is enrolled with Medicare, and is in good standing (i.e., the physician/supplier is not sanctioned, barred, or otherwise excluded from participating in the Medicare program); and
  • Be responsible for any existing billing arrangements between the purchasing entity and the entity providing the service.

When submitting paper claims (form CMS–1500), physicians/suppliers billing their local carrier for a purchased test/interpretation performed outside of the carrier’s jurisdiction must report their name and use their own PIN to bill both the purchased portion of the test and the portion of the test that they performed. When billing for a purchased interpretation, the billing physician/supplier should not report the PIN of the physician who performed the interpretation in item 19 of the claim. Instead, the billing physician/supplier must maintain a record of the name and address of the physician performing the purchased interpretation and supply it to the Medicare carrier upon request. In addition, when billing for the test/interpretation, the purchasing physician/supplier must enter the address of that portion of the service they actually performed as the address where the purchased service was performed in block 32 of the CNMS–1500 claim form.

When submitting a claim for a purchased service on the form CMS–1500, remember that the billing physician/supplier must check box 20 “Yes” or continue to bill for the technical and professional components on separate claim forms.

When using electronic claims submissions (ANSI X12 837, version 4010A) physicians/suppliers billing for the purchased test/interpretation performed outside their carrier’s jurisdiction must report their name and their PIN to bill for the purchased diagnostic service. The billing physician/supplier should continue to report the 1C qualifier (Medicare Provider Number) in the reference identification segment of the 2310C (Purchased Service Provider Secondary ID) loop.

When reporting the 2400 PS1 segment (Purchased Service Information) of the 837 format, billing physicians/suppliers must report their own PIN. The reference identifier entered in the REF02 segment of the 2310C loop must also be the PIN of the billing physician/supplier, not the PIN of the physician/supplier who actually performed the service.

In addition, the billing physician/supplier must enter as the service facility location the same address as the location where they performed the non–purchased portion of the test. Enter this address in the appropriate service facility location (Service Facility Location Loop 2310D for claim level or 2420C for the line level on the claim).

Also, a physician/supplier billing a carrier for a purchased diagnostic test must continue to report on the claim the amount that the physician/supplier charged, net of any discounts. (Independent laboratories are exempt from reporting the amount charged for purchased tests.)

When billing for a diagnostic service purchased within the local carrier’s geographical service area, the physician/supplier must continue to follow existing guidelines for reporting the location where the service was furnished.

Physicians/suppliers are advised that:

  • They must bill their local carrier for purchased diagnostic tests/interpretations, and they may no longer use, effective 14 days after receiving notification from the carrier, PINs issued in out–of–jurisdiction carrier sites to bill for these services; and
  • They will not be penalized when they change the service facility location on the claim (even if the location reported on the claim does not correspond with the location where the service was actually performed).

Benefits Identification Card Number Update

  California — Medi–Cal
  Effective Date: May 01, 2005

Until the statewide issuance of the new 14–character Medi–Cal Benefits Identification Cards (BICs) is completed , Medi–Cal recipients will have a BIC with either a 10– or 14–character ID. The claims processing system will accept both types of BIC ID numbers until new billing requirements are implemented in late 2005 or early 2006.

  • Eligibility Verification: The eligibility verification system accepts all 14–characters; however, only the first 10–characters are returned with the eligibility verification response. After the statewide issuance is completed, the eligibility verification system will return the full 14–characters of the BIC ID with the eligibility verification response.
  • Billing: The claims processing system accepts all 14–characters, however, the system only processes the first 10–characters. Providers should bill using the ID number from the BIC for which they received an eligibility verification response.

2005 CPT–4/HCPCS Updates

California – Medi-Cal
Published Date: June, 2005
Medi–Cal Update — General Medicine   Bulletin 371
Implementation November 01, 2005

The 2005 updates to the Current Procedural Terminology – 4th Edition (CPT–4) and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) National Level II codes will be effective for Medi–Cal for dates of service on or after November 01, 2005. The affected codes are:

CPT–4 Code Additions:

Radiology

75960, 76077, 76510, 76820, 76821, 78811, 78812, 78813, 78814, 78815, 78816, 79005, 79101, 79445

Pathology and Laboratory

82045, 82656, 83009, 83630, 84163, 84166, 86064, 86335, 86379, 86587, 87807, 88184, 88185, 88187, 88188, 88189, 88360

CPT–4 Code Deletions:

Radiology

78810, 78990, 79000, 79001, 79020, 79030, 79035, 79100, 79400, 79420, 79900

Pathology and Laboratory

88180

Reference:  Medi–Cal Publications


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