Get ready for more paperwork headaches under a dual number system for surveys.
Think the National Provider Identifier numbers required in May will simplify your Medicare paperwork? Think again.
After the NPI implementation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will continue to issue and use Medicare/Medicaid Provider Numbers, CMS says in a March 2 memo to state survey agencies (S&C-07-16).
New name: To decrease confusion between the new numbers, CMS will call the Medicare Provider Number the "Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Certification Number" or CCN.
HIPAA requires providers to use NPIs on all HIPAA-regulated transactions, such as claims, by May 23. But CMS will use the new CCN on all Survey and Certification and patient assessment transactions, the memo specifies.
"In some activities, both numbers will be used," CMS says. The memo is online at
www.cms.hhs.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/downloads/SCLetter07-16.pdf. • Home care providers could soon face big changes in the way aides and other staffers can unionize.
On March 1, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Employee Free Choice Act" (HR 800). The legislation would fundamentally alter the balance of labor relations in the United States to favor unions.
The vote was 241 members in favor of the bill and 185 opposing. Thirteen Republican representatives voted with the overwhelmingly Democratic majority, according to the Associated Press.
Identical legislation is expected to be proposed by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-MA) soon. • Durable medical equipment suppliers and others will have a little longer to migrate to the new CMS-1500 claim form. CMS originally said it would accept the old 1500 form (12-90) until April 1. Now because of formatting problems with form vendor Government Printing Office, CMS has extended that date to June 1, it says. After that, suppliers will have to use the new 1500 form (08-05).
Carriers will accept both forms in this transitional period. But CMS will direct contractors to return, not manually key, any CMS-1500 (08-05) forms received that aren't formatted correctly. "By returning the incorrectly formatted claim forms back to you, we are able to make you aware of the situation which will allow you to begin communications with your form supplier," CMS says.
• You could see more scrutiny on your drug coverage for dually eligible hospice patients. Oklahoma's Medicaid program incorrectly paid $3,680 for prescriptions that Valley Hospice should have covered under the Medicare hospice benefit, the HHS Office of Inspector General says in a newly issued report (A-06-06-00102).
Reavis Super Drug billed the Oklahoma Health Care Authority for the drugs, but OHCA shouldn't have paid because the drugs were related to the hospice patients' terminal illnesses, according to the report conducted in conjunction with the OHCA Audit Services Division. The report looked at 60 drug claims [...]
