California HME Update
Distributed by the California Association of Medical Product Suppliers
November 24, 2009
CMS' Erroneous Notifications to Beneficiaries about Provider Non-compliance
 
 
On October 21, 2009, CMS sent letters out to beneficiaries telling them that their Medical Equipment supplier "hasn't yet" met the new requirements to become Medicare-approved.  Starting October 1, 2009, the supplier can no longer bill Medicare for your medical equipment or supplies.  For a copy of the notification letter that is being sent out to beneficiaries along with additional information on Medicare's new accreditation and surety bond requirements for DMEPOS suppliers, go to:  
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/Partnerships/03_DMEPOS_Toolkit.asp#TopOfPage.
 
Several of our members reported their beneficiaries began receiving these letters over the past 10 days. To make matters worse, these suppliers have met both accreditation and bonding requirements and this has been verified by the NSC. But now, their phones have been ringing from concerned customers asking what is going on. This forces the supplier to have to notify all their Medicare patients that they have indeed met the requirements and that it is okay for them to continue to provide equipment and supplies.  Also, CMS is reaching out to Medicaid offices and other referral sources on this as well.
 
Senator Roberts of Kansas office has been contacted regarding this matter and his office contacted CMS.  However, CMS will not send out letters correcting the misinformation sent to beneficiaries whose Medical Equipment supplier was in compliance to state the previous letter was sent in error.
 
CMS is requesting that suppliers who feel their beneficiaries received these letters in error notify the NSC to verify that they are in compliance with accreditation and the surety bond requirements.  If the supplier finds that they were in compliance on October 1, 2009, CMS has told Senator Roberts office that they will send out the recension letter to their beneficiaries.
The CMS contact is Sandra Bastinelli at Sandra.Bastinelli@cms.hhs.gov or 410-786-3630.

CMS Announces Delay in PECOS Referring Physician/Provider Requirement
 
CMS announced yesterday that they would delay until April 5 ,2010 the new PECOS requirement that would have required that the NPI of any referring or ordering physician/provider be included on the claim form or risk denial as of 1/4/2010. The complete notice is reprinted below.
 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will delay, until April 5, 2010, the implementation of Phase 2 of Change Request (CR) 6417 (Expansion of the Current Scope of Editing for Ordering/Referring Providers for Claims Processed by Medicare Carriers and Part B Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs)) and CR 6421 (Expansion of the Current Scope of Editing for Ordering/Referring Providers for Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Supplier Claims Processed by Durable Medical Equipment Medicare Administrative Contractors (DME MACs)).  CRs 6417 and 6421 are applicable to Part B claims only.
 
The delay in implementing Phase 2 of these CRs will give physicians and non-physician practitioners who order items or services for Medicare beneficiaries or who refer Medicare beneficiaries to other Medicare providers or suppliers sufficient time to enroll in Medicare or take the action necessary to establish a current enrollment record in Medicare prior to Phase 2 implementation.
 
Although enrolled in Medicare, many physicians and non-physician practitioners who are eligible to order items or services or refer Medicare beneficiaries to other Medicare providers or suppliers for services do not have current enrollment records in Medicare.  A current enrollment record is one that is in the Medicare Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) and also contains the physician/non-physician practitioner's National Provider Identifier (NPI).  Under Phase 2 of the above referenced CRs, a physician or non-physician practitioner who orders or refers and who does not have a current enrollment record that contains the NPI will cause the claim submitted by the Part B provider/supplier who furnished the ordered or referred item or service to be rejected. 
 
CMS continues to urge physicians and non-physician practitioners who are enrolled in Medicare but who have not updated their Medicare enrollment record since November 2003 to update their enrollment record now.  If these physicians and non-physician practitioners have no changes to their enrollment data, they need to submit an initial enrollment application which will establish a current enrollment record in PECOS.
 
For physicians and non-physician practitioners who order or refer- 
 
If you are not enrolled in the Medicare program, or if you enrolled more than 6 years ago and have not submitted any updates or changes to your enrollment information in more than 6 years, you do not have an enrollment record in PECOS.  In order to continue to order or refer items or services for Medicare beneficiaries, you will have to submit an initial enrollment application.  You may do so either by (1) using Internet-based PECOS (which transmits your enrollment application to the Medicare carrier or A/B MAC via the Internet-be sure to mail the signed and dated Certification Statement to the carrier or A/B MAC immediately after submitting the application), or (2) filling out the appropriate paper Medicare provider enrollment application(s) (CMS-855I and CMS-855R, if appropriate) and mailing the application, along with any required additional supplemental documentation, to the local Medicare carrier or A/B MAC, who will enter your information into PECOS and process your enrollment application.  Information on how to enroll in Medicare is found on the Medicare provider/supplier enrollment web site at www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareProviderSupEnroll.
  • If you are already enrolled in Medicare, make sure you have a current enrollment record.  You can find out if you have an enrollment record in PECOS by calling your designated carrier or A/B MAC or by going on-line, using Internet-based PECOS, to view your enrollment record.  We will be posting information to the Medicare provider/supplier enrollment web site that will guide you through this process.  Information about Internet-based PECOS and a link to Internet-based PECOS can be found on the Medicare provider/supplier enrollment web site. Before using Internet-based PECOS, we recommend that you read the information that is posted there and that is available in the downloadable documents section.
  • If you are a dentist or a physician with a specialty such as a pediatrics who is eligible to order or refer items or services for Medicare beneficiaries but have not enrolled in Medicare because the services you provide are not covered by Medicare or you treat few Medicare beneficiaries, you need to enroll in Medicare in order to continue to order or refer items or services for Medicare beneficiaries.
  • If you are a physician who is employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Public Health Service, or the Department of Defense Tricare program but have not enrolled in Medicare because you would not be paid by Medicare for your services, you need to enroll in Medicare in order to continue to order or refer items or services for Medicare beneficiaries. 
If you are a resident who has a medical license but have not enrolled in Medicare because you would not be paid by Medicare for your services, you do not need to enroll in Medicare in order to continue to order or refer items or services for Medicare beneficiaries.  The teaching physician-not the resident-should be identified in claims as the ordering/referring provider when a resident orders or refers items or services for Medicare beneficiaries.
 
CMS actions to mitigate the number of informational messages: 
 
Since many Part B providers and suppliers are receiving a high volume of informational messages in their Remittances, CMS is taking the following actions to reduce the number of informational messages being generated: 
 
  1. Prior to the implementation of Phase 2, CMS will systematically add the NPIs to the PECOS enrollment records of all physicians and non-physician practitioners whose enrollment records are in PECOS but do not contain their NPIs.  Because the NPI is one of the matching criteria used in implementing the two new edits on the Ordering/Referring Provider, it is essential that the NPI be in the PECOS enrollment record.  Because the data file used to implement the two edits contains only the eligible physicians and non-physician practitioners who are in PECOS with NPIs in their enrollment records, this action will add many more physicians and non-physician practitioners to that data file.    
  2. Prior to the implementation of Phase 2, CMS will make publicly available on the Internet the names and NPIs of the Medicare physicians and non-physician practitioners who are eligible to order or refer in the Medicare program.  The name displayed will be that of the physician or non-physician practitioner as it appears in his or her PECOS enrollment record.  This will allow Part B providers and suppliers who furnish and bill for items or services based on orders or referrals to determine if the Ordering/Referring Provider being identified in their claims will pass the two new edits prior to submitting the claims to Medicare. 
  3. Prior to the implementation of Phase 2, CMS will issue instructions to carriers and A/B MACs that will assist them in processing enrollment applications from physicians who are employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Public Health Service, and the Department of Defense Tricare program.  The instructions will also state that the teaching physician should be reported as the Ordering/Referring Physician in situations where a resident orders or refers items or services for Medicare beneficiaries.  The instructions will also note that dentists and pediatricians, who sometimes order or refer items or services for Medicare beneficiaries, may be enrolling in Medicare in order to continue to order and refer. 
  4. CMS will be preparing a Special Edition Medicare Learning Network (MLN) Matters Article on the implementation of these two new edits.  This MLN Matters Article will expand upon the information currently available in MLN Matters Articles MM 6417 and MM 6421. 
Medi-Cal Notice Re: Void and Resubmission of Part-B Crossover Claims

 
CAMPS has been notified by EDS, an HP company, that the following notice is being mailed to providers.
 
The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and EDS, an HP company, have discovered a system error that resulted in the incorrect reimbursement of certain Medicare Part B crossover claims. These claims should have utilized the Medi-Cal maximum allowable rate instead of the Medicare allowable for the service and modifier combination billed. The system was fixed on October 28, 2009.  
 
EDS is reprocessing the affected Part B crossover claims with Remittance Advice Details (RAD) dates beginning April 1, 2009, through October 29, 2009, to correct the paid amount, which will result in a recovery in most cases.  However, some of the claims may be paid more than the original reimbursement due to the multiple services billed on Part B claims. Some of these services are subject to other system changes incorporated during this billing period.   
 
No action is required on your part. EDS will reprocess the affected claims to price correctly. Voids will appear on RADs beginning the week of December 7, 2009, with RAD code 819: Void and resubmission of claims processed in error). Resubmits will appear on RADs beginning the week of December 14, 2009, with Claim Control Number (CCN) prefixes 933988 and 934088.  
 
This recovery is authorized under the provisions of Welfare and Institutions Code (W&I Code) Sections 14176 and 14177 and California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 22, Section 51458.1(a)(1).  In addition, the W&I Code sections authorize DHCS to enter into repayment agreements with providers or offset overpayments against amounts due. If your total warrant amount is not sufficient to offset the recovery, the negative balance will be converted to an accounts receivable transaction and subtracted from future Medi-Cal payments. 
 
Providers have three options to offset the negative accounts receivable balance:  1) Send a check for the accounts receivable balance to EDS Cash Control. 2) Do nothing and allow the recovery process to withhold 100 percent of the weekly Medi-Cal checkwrite until the balance is paid in full. However, if the balance due is not recovered within 90 days, the account may be subject to collection. 3) Make repayment arrangements for a lower withhold percentage rate so that the balance due is recovered within 90 days of the Erroneous Payment Correction (EPC) implementation date. These arrangements can be made through the Telephone Service Center (TSC) at the number below. 
 
If you disagree with any of these voids/resubmits, you may submit an appeal within 90 days of the void RAD date.  Please refer to the Appeals Form Completion section in a Part 2 Medi-Cal provider manual or on the Medi-Cal Web site (www.medi-cal.ca.gov) for instructions about how to submit an appeal.

CAMPS Calendar of Events  

 
March 2-3, 2010
CAMPS Annual Convention
Hilton Irvine/Orange County Airport
Room Rate $159
Reservations: 800-445-8667, ask for CAMPS special rate
 
March 4, 2010
CAMPS Board Meeting
Hilton Irvine/Orange County Airport

The California HME Update is a benefit provided to members of the California Association of Medical Product Suppliers (CAMPS). It is published periodically to keep members informed of issues affecting the Home Medical Equipment (HME) industry. Inquiries should be addressed to Gloria Peterson at the CAMPS office by phone at (916) 443-2115 or e-mail at gpeterson@amgroup.us.