CMS Releases Transmittal on New Timely Filing Requirements.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released Transmittal 2140 to update the Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Pub. 100-04) with the new timely filing requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).Under section 6406 of PPACA, providers must file Medicare fee-for-service claims no later than twelve months from the date of service.  Claims that are submitted after twelve months of the date of service are considered late and will not be reimbursed by CMS unless the provider meets one of the exceptions outlined in the Transmittal.  The filing requirements went into effect on January 1 and CMS has instructed its contractors to being implementing the policy on February 22.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “Changes to the Timely Limits for Filing Medicare Fee-For-Service Claims.” Transmittal 2140.  21 Jan. 2011.