Effective Friday, March 25, 2011, Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs)
will begin collecting application fees with certain provider/supplier
enrollment applications (both paper and online applications) as described
below. The application fee is currently $505 for CY2011; however, this fee
will vary from year-to-year based on adjustments made pursuant to the Consumer
Price Index for Urban Areas (CPI-U).
Note that these application fees do not apply to physicians, non-physician
practitioners, physician organizations, and non-physician organizations. All
institutional providers of medical or other items or services or suppliers must
pay the application fee. (''Institutional provider'' includes any provider or
supplier that submits a paper Medicare enrollment application using the
CMS-855A; CMS-855B, not including physician and non-physician practitioner
organizations; CMS-855S; or the associated Internet-based PECOS enrollment
applications).
All application fees must be submitted via paper check, until CMS specifies a
mechanism for submitting electronic funds at a future date. Note also that
MACs will accept hardship exception requests from institutional providers;
however, determinations on whether to grant these requests will be made on a
case-by-case basis. CMS and its contractors will not be able to process any
applications without the proper application fee having been paid and credited
to the United States Treasury or an approved hardship exception. If the fee is
not submitted, the application will be rejected or billing privileges revoked
(as applicable) unless a hardship exception request is subsequently granted.
If CMS has denied a hardship exception request, then an institutional provider
has thirty days to submit the application fee to the CMS contractor.
For more information, please refer to the regulation published to the Federal
Register at
http://www.GPO.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-02-02/pdf/2011-1686.pdf<http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-02-02/pdf/2011-1686.pdf>.
And for additional clarification, look out for an official MLN Matters
Article that will be released on the subject in the near future.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March Flu Shot Reminder
It's Not too Late to Give and Get the Flu Vaccine. Take advantage of each
office visit and continue to protect your patients against the seasonal flu.
Medicare will continue to pay for the seasonal flu vaccine and its
administration for all Medicare beneficiaries through the entire flu season.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that patients,
health care workers and caregivers be vaccinated against the seasonal flu.
Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get Your Flu
Vaccine - Not the Flu.
Remember - Influenza vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B
benefits. Note that influenza vaccine is NOT a Part D covered drug. For
information about Medicare's coverage of the influenza vaccine and its
administration, as well as related educational resources for health care
professionals and their staff, please visit the following CMS websites:
http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/Downloads/Flu_Products.pdf and
http://www.cms.gov/AdultImmunizations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please
copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser.
If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service
(FFS) provider listserv, go to
(http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf).
If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go
to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the
appropriate listserv.
Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed
through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and
operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to
CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to
(http://www.cms.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you.
