Medical Billers and Coders

  Medical billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities has undergone metamorphic changes ever since the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 came into effect in 1998. One of the significant requirements under the new legislation is that Skilled Nursing Facilities are not permitted to unbundle services administered by contracted healthcare providers. As a result, most of the services provided to Medicare beneficiaries are to be bundled together and billed by SNFs under the Prospective Payment System (PPS) in one consolidated claim. The SNF concerned is then responsible to pay for contracted services out of the per diem rate that it earns for caring for a Medicare beneficiary. Eliminating Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) Medical Billing Complication While this imposition may have helped reduce potential fraud and abuse due to double billing by healthcare providers, SNFs have certainly had a hard time understanding: What services are covered under consolidated billing What is billable under Me

  Medicare Part A covers skilled nursing and rehabilitation care in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) under certain conditions for a limited time. Coverage for care in SNFs is measured in ‘benefit periods’ or sometimes ‘spell of illness. In each benefit period, Medicare Part A covers up to 20 days in full. After that, Medicare Part A covers an additional 80 days with the beneficiary paying coinsurance for each day. After 100 days, the SNF coverage available during that benefit period is ‘exhausted,’ and the beneficiary pays for all care, except for certain Medicare Part B services. In this article, we shared Medicare SNF billing coverage for the year 2022, and also we bifurcated Medicare SNF billing coverage for Medicare part A, Medicare part B, Original Medicare, and Medicare Advantage (MA). Medicare SNF Billing Coverage Medicare Part A Coverage The SNF Prospective Payment System (PPS) pays for all SNF Part A inpatient services. Medicare Part A covers Medicare-certified SNF skill

  SNF Advanced Beneficiary Notice of Non-coverage Medicare requires SNFs to issue the SNF Advanced Beneficiary Notice of Non-coverage to Original Medicare, also called fee-for-service (FFS), beneficiaries prior to providing care that Medicare usually covers, but may not pay for in this instance because the care is not medically reasonable and necessary; or considered custodial. The SNFABN provides information to the beneficiary so that s/he can decide whether or not to get the care that may not be paid for by Medicare and assume financial responsibility. SNFs must use the SNFABN when applicable for SNF Prospective Payment System services (Medicare Part A). SNFs will continue to use the ABN Form CMS-R-131 when applicable for Medicare Part B items and services. Form Filling Instructions for SNF Advanced Beneficiary Notice The SNFABN has 5 sections for completion i.e., header, body, option boxes, additional information, and signature & date.  Failure to use this notice or signific

  On April 11, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that would update Medicare payment policies and rates for skilled nursing facilities (SNF) for the year 2023. This SNF PPS (Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System) includes proposals for the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) and the SNF Value-Based Program (VBP) for FY 2023 and future years. This proposed rule CMS is publishing this proposed rule consistent with the legal requirements to update Medicare payment policies for nursing homes on an annual basis.  What is the SNF QRP? The SNF QRP creates SNF quality reporting requirements, as mandated by the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act).  Every year, by October 1, CMS publishes the quality measures SNFs must report. The IMPACT Act requires the reporting of standardized patient assessment data with regard to quality measures and standardized patient assessment data elements. The Act re

Need for Consolidated Billing for SNFs Prior to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA), a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) could elect to furnish services to a resident in a covered Part A stay, either, directly using its own resources; through the SNF's transfer agreement hospital; or under arrangements with an independent therapist (for physical, occupational, and speech therapy services). In each of these circumstances, the SNF billed Medicare Part A for the services. However, the SNF also had the further option of ‘unbundling’ a service altogether; that is, the SNF could permit an outside supplier to furnish the service directly to the resident, and the outside supplier would submit a bill to Medicare Part B, without any involvement of the SNF itself. This practice created several problems, including the following: Potential for duplicate (Parts A/B) billing if both the SNF and outside supplier billed; An increased out-of-pocket liability incurred by the beneficiary for the Part B

On 7th April 2022, in response to the COVID-19 PHE and under section 1135 of the Social Security Act, CMS passed several temporary emergency declaration blanket waivers which were intended to provide health care providers with extra flexibilities required to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the waivers of regulatory requirements have provided flexibility in how nursing homes may operate, they have also removed the minimum standards for quality that help ensure residents’ health and safety are protected.  Declaration of Blanket Waivers Recently, CMS conducted some surveys that revealed significant concerns with resident care that are unrelated to infection control (e.g., abuse, weight loss, depression, pressure ulcers, etc.). Waiver of certain regulatory requirements may have contributed to these outcomes and raised the risk of other issues. For example, by waiving requirements for training, nurse aides and paid feeding assistants may not have received the necessary training t

  Consolidated Billing Background Prior to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA), an SNF could elect to furnish services to a resident in a covered Part A stay, either: directly, using its own resources; through the SNF’s transfer agreement hospital; or under arrangements with an independent therapist (for physical, occupational, and speech therapy services). In each of these circumstances, the SNF billed Medicare Part A for the services. However, the SNF also had the further option of “unbundling” a service altogether; that is, the SNF could permit an outside supplier to furnish the service directly to the resident, and the outside supplier would submit a bill to Medicare Part B, without any involvement of the SNF itself.  This practice created several problems, including the following: Potential for duplicate (Parts A/B) billing if both the SNF and outside supplier billed; An increased out-of-pocket liability incurred by the beneficiary for the Part B deductible and coinsurance even