Medicare Secondary Payer Debt Management Service
The Debt Collection Improvement Act (DCIA) of 1996 required Federal Government agencies to refer delinquent debt owed to the government to the Department of Treasury for collection action or IRS payment offsets. A United States General Accounting Office (GAO) audit of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) determined that CMS had not fully implemented the referral provisions of DCIA in regard to Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) debts. As a result of compliance obligations associated with the audit findings, many employers have found themselves inundated by unresolved payer disputes, government demand letters, and Treasury collection notices or IRS payment offsets. Employers are struggling to address this additional workload while also seeking a means to reduce the future impact of payer disputes. The MSP Debt Management Service process provided by SSDC includes the following:
- Investigation and reconciliation of MSP data with employer beneficiary profile information
- Interface with Medicare, Coordination of Benefits Contractor (GHI), Health Plan and Third Party Administrators on matters concerning health plan enrollment for covered beneficiaries
- Dedicated toll free number call center to assist beneficiaries, health care providers and claim administrators
Benefits of this process include the following:
- Reduced group health plan (GHP) costs
- Relief to employers from the administrative burden associated with the control and processing of MSP claims
- Avoidance of penalty for late payment (compound interest) and the administrative hourly cost for the time necessary to resolve either an original inquiry, a government demand letter, or a United States Department of Treasury collection notice