(wire)
Insurance groups seek delay in Medicare requirements
Two property/casualty insurance industry groups have joined with a self-insurance group to ask the government to delay implementation of mandatory Medicare secondary payer reporting requirements.
The requirements, which are set to go into effect on April 1, are intended to ensure that Medicare maintains its role as secondary payer when a Medicare beneficiary has medical expenses falling under the primary responsibility of liability insurance. In addition, Medicare, will be allowed to recover conditional payments that should have been covered by the primary insurance plan.
But a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from the American Insurance Association, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, and the Self-Insurance Institute of America asked that the deadline be delayed.
"Property/casualty insurers, as well as companies that self-insure, have been working diligently for the past two years to meet the new reporting requirements. Despite our best efforts and those of the senior decision makers within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency has yet to demonstrate that the new reporting system will properly function."
The letter added that final reporting parameters have not been provided to all insurers, furthering the need for a more realistic implementation date.
The requirements, which are set to go into effect on April 1, are intended to ensure that Medicare maintains its role as secondary payer when a Medicare beneficiary has medical expenses falling under the primary responsibility of liability insurance. In addition, Medicare, will be allowed to recover conditional payments that should have been covered by the primary insurance plan.
But a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from the American Insurance Association, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, and the Self-Insurance Institute of America asked that the deadline be delayed.
"Property/casualty insurers, as well as companies that self-insure, have been working diligently for the past two years to meet the new reporting requirements. Despite our best efforts and those of the senior decision makers within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency has yet to demonstrate that the new reporting system will properly function."
The letter added that final reporting parameters have not been provided to all insurers, furthering the need for a more realistic implementation date.
