Delores L. Galias, RN, RHIT
STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY:
The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments to this message are intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify D. Galias, RN, RHIT immediately at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and destroy all copies of this message and any attachments. Thank you for your cooperation
--- Begin Message ---Internet-Only Manual: Pub. 100-4, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 30, Financial Liability Protections, was published online and effective on October 1, 2003. It is available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/manuals/104_claims/clm104c30.pdf. This chapter includes Section 70, "Form CMS-10055 Skilled Nursing Facility Advance Beneficiary Notice (SNFABN)." The SNFABN is intended to replace the five previous SNF notices of noncoverage (NONCs) that were published in Pub. 12, Skilled Nursing Facility Manual, at section 358.Implementation: The new model SNFABN form was available for use as of October 1, 2003. This form is available online at CMS's Beneficiary Notices Initiative webpage at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicare/bni/ Although we strongly encourage use of the new form, it is not yet mandatory and we recognize that SNFs may need several months to switch over to the use of the new form. Until the form has been finalized through the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) public comment and clearance process and becomes a mandatory use form, intermediaries will not require use of the new ABN for liability transfer purposes. Interested parties will have an opportunity to participate in a public meeting on the SNFABN at CMS on March 16, 2004 and to submit comments during the PRA process comment periods. The details of this public meeting will be published in an upcoming Federal Register notice, expected during the final week of February 2004. We anticipate that the SNFABN will become a mandatory form around October 1, 2004. We will provide written clarification via the CMS' SNF list-serve and through the fiscal intermediaries when the new SNFABN becomes a mandatory, standardized form. Practical Effect: While the SNFABN is still a model form for the time being, SNFs that wish to afford beneficiaries the best notice possible, and to best ensure that they are not made liable on the basis of ineffective notice, are advised to use the model SNFABN (in conjunction with the advance beneficiary notice policies enunciated in Chapter 30, especially in Sections 40.3 & 70). The model SNFABN has precisely the same weight now that the NONCs in Exhibits 1-5 of Pub. 12 Sec. 358 had previously: SNFABNs are the agency's current best advice as to proper notice. We believe the new form should greatly simplify SNF notice procedures by eliminating the inherent confusion associated with the use of the five different notices, depending on the situation. The earlier NONCs are no longer included in agency instructions, and their use should be phased out as soon as possible. The Beneficiary Notices Initiative (BNI): The use of beneficiary notices is one of CMS's best opportunities to achieve successful outreach to program beneficiaries. CMS directly touches the lives of millions of beneficiaries every day by its program notices to beneficiaries. The purpose of the BNI is to wed consumer rights and protections with effective beneficiary communication, so that beneficiaries are given the opportunity to timely exercise their rights and protections in a well-informed manner. The new SNFABN is the latest product of these efforts.
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