2012 Annual Update for the Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) Bonus Payments

Change Request (CR) 7517 alerts providers that the annual HPSA bonus payment file for 2012 will be made available by CMS to your Medicare contractor and will be used for HPSA bonus payments on applicable claims with dates of service on or after January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012. These files will be posted to the internet on or about December 1, 2011. Physician and other providers should review https://www.cms.hhs.gov/hpsapsaphysicianbonuses each year to determine whether they need to add the AQ modifier to their claim in order to receive the bonus payment, or to see if the Zip code area in which they rendered services will automatically receive the HPSA bonus payment. • Medicare pays a 10 percent bonus to physicians providing eligible services to Medicare beneficiaries who receive services in HPSAs. • Only the professional services of a physician are eligible for the bonus. If a service has both a professional and a technical component, only the professional component qualifies.