It is fascinating to me how rapidly and completely something can move from primary to secondary. I started writing this blog post one and a half weeks ago. After all sorts of interruptions, it has finally made it back to primary position in my task queue. Since I have no formal rules for how a task becomes primary or secondary, it can sometimes be a challenge to prioritize.
An active discussion on our SOS User Group site on Medicare Crossover claim filing started me thinking about this matter of primary and secondary insurance. Somehow, in our day-to-day lives, we have complete understanding of what these words mean, even if we have no formal definitions. When it comes to insurance, everything changes; the meanings and functions of primary and secondary become murky. Because we have addressed this issue here in this blog and in a couple of documents on our web site, internet searches for ‘filing secondary insurance’ often hit upon the article that Manon wrote on the subject or on the blog post. I am surprised at how frequently those searches and hits happen.
Our User Group discussion (just scroll to the top for the start of the thread) talked about the requirements placed upon Medicare Participating Providers to file secondary or crossover claims for their patients. Most of the participants indicated their understanding that it is necessary for Participating Providers to do this. Some discussants indicated that crossover claims are sent to the secondary insurer automatically. A couple of others indicated that there is some special process that they must go through to make this happen.
I know that one of the most important improvements in the 5010 version of the 837 claims transaction is requirement for the inclusion of more specific Coordination of Benefit information in the claim. Manon attended a Medicare webinar this week that discussed progress on meeting the 5010 requirements. Apparently, crossovers have been a big issue in this 5010 transition, but CMS indicates that they have made significant advance in working out the issues about crossovers.
Medicare regulations detail requirements for Coordination of Benefit Agreements and Coordination of Benefit Contractors. Unfortunately, wading through 124 pages of regulations to completely understand this process seems like overkill for an individual provider. Add to that the fact that different Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) may have different procedures, different Coordination of Benefit Contractors, and be in different stages of implementation of this process. In fact, a Google search for Medicare Crossovers comes up with documents created by many of the different MACs.
Getting your MAC to tell you what must be in your claims, what you as a provider are required to do for your patient, and what your patient may be required to do to complete the filing of secondary (crossover) claims seems like the reasonable course of action. I would be amazed if there is not detailed information on your MAC’s website.
Let us know if you are able to find out useful information. We can post the links here to make it easier for others to find what they need about the topic of Medicare Crossovers. Please share your comments below.