By Jessica Thomas – Staff Lien Counsel
Medicare made an important announcement this past week. According to the announcement, they are going to make a conditional payment electronic portal available in July 2012. Needless to say this will be a large step in the right direction towards creating a better system for the more efficient exchange of information between beneficiaries and Medicare. With the ever growing interest in outsourcing Medicare conditional payment resolution, the news that the portal will be open to everyone involved with the Medicare Secondary Payer compliance process is welcome news.
Some of the important features will be:
- Providing Consent to Release and Proof of Representation
- Requesting Conditional Payment information
- Disputing Conditional Payment charges
- Submitting settlement information, in order to obtain a final demand
There are still some lingering questions regarding the actual functionality of the portal. There is no word as to whether conditional payment letters and final demand letters will be available electronically.
The outlook is positive due to CMS’s successful past efforts of simplifying the exchange of information electronically in the Medicare Set Aside field. Having a portal that is accessible to beneficiaries’ attorneys and the experts they work with is promising but we will reserve judgment until we see how well it operates in the real world. The full announcement is below.
Coming Soon – The Medicare Secondary Payer Recovery Portal
A new online Self-Service Tool to help manage your Medicare recovery case.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is in the process of implementing a new web-based tool designed to assist in and accelerate the resolution of Liability Insurance, No-Fault Insurance, and Workers’ Compensation Medicare recovery cases. The new tool is called, The Medicare Secondary Payer Recovery Portal (MSPRP).
The MSPRP will give users (attorneys, insurers, beneficiaries, and TPAs) the ability to access and update certain case specific information online. Activities that currently require written communication or telephone calls to the Medicare Secondary Payer Recovery Contractor will soon be able to be done through the portal.
The MSPRP will allow users the ability to electronically perform the following activities:
- Submit Proof of Representation or Consent to Release documentation – Instead of mailing in an authorization, users will be able to upload authorizations through the portal.
- Request conditional payment information – Requesting an updated conditional payment amount or a copy of a current conditional payment letter will be as simple as clicking a few buttons.
- Dispute claims included in a conditional payment letter – Users will be able to view the claims listed on the conditional payment letter and dispute unrelated claims online.
- Submit case settlement information – Users will be able to input settlement information online and upload a copy of the settlement documentation through the portal.
The MSPRP is scheduled to go live in July 2012. Additional details regarding the MSPRP will be shared on this website in the coming months.
