MLN Matters Number: MM6328
Related Change Request (CR) #: 6328
Related CR Release Date: December 31, 2008
Effective Date: January 1, 2009
Related CR Transmittal #: R1656CP
Implementation Date: January 5, 2009
Provider Types Affected
Physicians, providers, and suppliers who bill Medicare contractors (Carriers, Fiscal Intermediaries (FI), Regional Home Health Intermediaries (RHHI), Medicare Administrative Contractors (A/B MAC), and Durable Medical Equipment Medicare Administrative Contractors (DME MAC) for services provided to Medicare beneficiaries.
Provider Action Needed
Change Request (CR) 6328, from which this article is taken, reminds providers of the periodic updates to the Claim Status Codes and Claim Status Category Codes that Medicare contractors use with the Health Care Claim Status Request (ASC X12N 276), and the Health Care Claim Response (ASC X12N 277).
Background
The Claim Category and Claim Status Codes explain the status of submitted claims. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires all health care benefit payers to use only national Code Maintenance Committee-approved codes in the X12 276/277 Health Care Claim Status Request and Response transactions.
The national Code Maintenance Committee meets at the beginning of each X12 trimester meeting (February, June, and October) to decide about additions, modifications, and retirement of existing codes. Included in the code lists are specific details, including the date when a code was added, changed, or deleted.
CR 6328 updates the changes in the Claim Status Codes and Claim Status Category Codes from the June, 2008 committee meeting. These updates were posted at http://www.wpc-edi.com/content/view/180/223/ on June 30, 2008. Medicare contractors must have completed the entry of all applicable code text changes and new codes, and terminated the use of deactivated codes by January 5, 2009. On and after this date, these code changes are to be used in editing of all X12 276 transactions processed and must be reflected in the X12 277 transactions issued.
Additional Information
If you have any questions, please contact our provider service center at our toll-free number, 1-877-567-9249 (for North Carolina Part A and South Carolina Part A providers) or 1-866-801-5301 (for home health and hospice providers).
The official instruction (CR6328) issued to your Medicare MAC, Carrier, DME MAC, FI, and/or RHHI is available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/Transmittals/downloads/R1656CP.pdf on the CMS Web site.
Disclaimer: This article was prepared as a service to the public and is not intended to grant rights or impose obligations. This article may contain references or links to statutes, regulations, or other policy materials. The information provided is only intended to be a general summary. It is not intended to take the place of either the written law or regulations. We encourage readers to review the specific statutes, regulations and other interpretive materials for a full and accurate statement of their contents.
last updated on 01/06/2009