We frequently update our articles to reflect the latest changes and updates to Medicare, and strongly recommend you visit this article at link below to confirm you have the latest version.

Published Date:12/01/2016

Printed Date: 9/22/2015

URL: http://palmgba.com/marlowe/redesign6/article.html

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to frequently asked Medicare questions below. For help with eServices, view our eServices FAQs.

Need help finding what you are looking for on this page?
Please Select a Topic:

Latest Articles

Page of 2

see 25 | see 50 | see 100

Next Page

After I receive a 277CA will I receive anything else?	06/18/2019
How can I tell if I am set up for Electronic Billing?	06/18/2019
How do I restore a remit file?	06/18/2019
Is the 277CA returned for each test submission?	06/18/2019
PC-ACE Pro32 software FAQs	06/18/2019
What information do I need to have available when calling for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) assistance?	06/18/2019
What is an approved software vendor?	06/18/2019
What provider address should I include on the EDI enrollment forms?	06/18/2019
What provider name should I include on the EDI enrollment forms?	06/18/2019
What PTAN should I enter on the EDI enrollment forms if the provider is a member of a group?	06/18/2019
What Submitter Name should I enter on the Provider Authorization form?	06/18/2019
When is a provider authorization form required?	06/18/2019
Where in the 277 CA file can we find the rejection message that provides the detailed rejection reason description?	06/18/2019
Will you reject claims with a P.O. Box in the billing provider address? Will you reject claims where the group number and policy number are the same values?	06/18/2019
Does Medicare cover preventive mastectomies when testing indicates a patient is at risk for developing breast cancer or when the patient has a genetic mutation?	06/13/2019
A provider left our group. We have billed Locum Tenens for 60 days. If we use a different substitute physician every 60 days, can we continue to bill Locum Tenens under the exiting physician's National Provider Identifier (NPI)?	06/03/2019
Am I a type/specialty that can order or refer items or services for Medicare beneficiaries?	06/03/2019
Are chiropractors required to submit therapy codes with both the GP and the GY HCPCS modifiers?	06/03/2019
Are consultation codes deleted for Medicare Advantage plans as well as Medicare fee-for-service?	06/03/2019
Are observation codes submitted by the hour or by the calendar date?	06/03/2019
Are we required to submit our Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) claims electronically?	06/03/2019
Are Your Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Claims Rejecting?	06/03/2019
Can a clinical pharmacist (Pharm D) perform an Annual Wellness Visit (AWV)?	06/03/2019
Can a nurse practitioner perform the initial hospital visit?	06/03/2019
Can a provider submit charges for evaluation and management "Level 4" office visit and prolonged care if the reason for the prolonged care was based on the patient requiring an interpreter?	06/03/2019
Can a provider submit critical care services and a procedure on the same calendar date? Can you add the time spent performing these separately billable services towards the critical care time?	06/03/2019
Can a psychologist order basic lab tests?	06/03/2019
Can a service be billed as "incident to" if the auxiliary staff performing the service, where there is no face-to-face encounter with the billing provider, changes a patient's treatment plan based on protocol or the results of laboratory tests?	06/03/2019
Can clarification be provided regarding the statement found in the MLN Matters Number: SE1010 Revised, page 8, "The split/shared rules applying to E/M services remain in effect, including those cases where services would previously have been reported by CPT consultation codes?"	06/03/2019
Can I call the Telephone Reopening Line to correct claims that were rejected as unprocessable?	06/03/2019
Can I submit an established patient code if the minimal documentation requirements are not met for a new patient code?	06/03/2019
Can incident to occur in place of service (POS) 19 or 22 (outpatient hospital)?	06/03/2019
Can providers of the same specialty/same group bill for critical care add on codes on the same date of service?	06/03/2019
Can time alone be used to select an E/M code?	06/03/2019
Can we combine the body areas and organ system to determine the complexity of the examination? The CMS 1995 E/M documentation guidelines use the words "and" and "or" on page 10 when referencing how to differentiate the level of complexity of the examination portion of an E/M service.	06/03/2019
Can we fax a primary payer's Explanation of Benefits (EOB) for Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) claims using the fax attachments for electronic claims process described in the Medicare Advisory?	06/03/2019
CMS Questions and Answers	06/03/2019
Do you have a coding question?	06/03/2019
Does a beneficiary need to sign an Advance Beneficiary of Noncoverage (ABN) for every visit?	06/03/2019
Does Palmetto GBA consider Coumadin or Heparin a "drug requiring intensive monitoring for toxicity"?	06/03/2019
Does time need to be documented in order to submit for a hospital or nursing facility discharge service?	06/03/2019
How can I check the status of my first level appeal?	06/03/2019
How do I find Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) information in the eServices portal?	06/03/2019
How do I upload attachments to an Appeal request?	06/03/2019
How should I list the name of the ordering/referring provider when submitting my paper and electronic claims?	06/03/2019
If a patient had one system complaint that was documented for the review of systems (ROS) and then the provider documented "patient has no other complaints," is that enough to receive a complete ROS?	06/03/2019
If another provider admits a patient into Observation Care and I provide a consult, can I bill the observation care code?	06/03/2019
If I provide a statutorily excluded service am I required to have the patient sign an ABN?	06/03/2019
If we see a patient for an Annual Wellness Visit on February 14, 2018, would their next AWV eligible date be February 14, 2019?	06/03/2019
In the E/M documentation guidelines, what does "more detail" regarding the exam mean, and what is the difference between an expanded problem-focused exam and detailed exam?	06/03/2019
Is a supervising physician's signature required for services performed by a physician assistant in the emergency department?	06/03/2019
Is Coumadin or Heparin considered a "drug requiring intensive monitoring for toxicity" under the Table of Risk?	06/03/2019
Is it acceptable to use "noncontributory, unremarkable or negative" when reporting past, family or social history?	06/03/2019
Is the Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) the same as a beneficiary's yearly physical?	06/03/2019
Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Frequently Asked Questions	06/03/2019
Must a problem be new to the patient or new to the provider in order for it to be considered a "new problem" when scoring diagnosis/management options for an evaluation and management (E/M) service?	06/03/2019
My claim for post-operative services billed with a modifier for "Postoperative Management Only" was rejected. What information was missing?	06/03/2019
My claim was denied with remittance messages 183 and N574. I submitted the name and NPI of the ordering/referring provider. What is wrong?	06/03/2019
My claim was denied with remittance messages N264 and N575. I submitted the name and NPI of the ordering/referring provider. What is wrong?	06/03/2019
What are CARCs and RARCs?	06/03/2019
What are the appropriate procedure codes for the first and subsequent AWVs?	06/03/2019
What is the definition of a "new patient" when selecting an E/M CPT code?	06/03/2019
What place of service (POS) do I use when reading a test from a remote location?	06/03/2019
What shall I do if I don't have an enrollment record in Medicare?	06/03/2019
What specific information can ancillary staff (e.g., RN, LPN, CNA) document during an evaluation and management (E/M) encounter?	06/03/2019
When an LCD is retired, does this mean that the information in the LCD is obsolete?	06/03/2019
When is a beneficiary eligible for the Annual Wellness Visit?	06/03/2019
When the history of present illness (HPI), review of systems (ROS) and past/family/social history (PFSH) are unobtainable, does a physician have to document the reason why, or can it be inferred by other documentation within the HPI (e.g., patient had severe dementia)?	06/03/2019
When using bilateral procedure modifier, do I always submit "1" in the units field?	06/03/2019
When using the 1995 E/M guidelines, can you add body areas and organ systems together to determine the appropriate level for the examination component?	06/03/2019
When using the Clock Draw test (CDT) to assess the patient's cognitive function as part of the Annual Wellness Visit, do we need to scan the actual paper CDT into the patient's medical record?	06/03/2019
Where can I find information about the New Medicare Cards project?	06/03/2019
Where can I see the Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE) value assigned to a CPT or HCPCS code?	06/03/2019
Who are the Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) contractors?	06/03/2019
Who are the medical directors for Palmetto GBA?	06/03/2019
Why are my claims rejecting Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) with Reason Code CO-16 and remarks codes MA04 and MA130 and what do I need to do?	06/03/2019
Why are some of our claims denying with message B9 (patient enrolled in hospice)? The services are unrelated to the patient's hospice diagnosis.	06/03/2019
Why can't we get claim status, entitlement or deductible information from a customer service representative?	06/03/2019
Why did Medicare deny my claim indicating that a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) is responsible for payment of my service?	06/03/2019
Why isn't a procedure code listed on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS)?	06/03/2019
Why was my office visit denied when billed on the same surgery date of service?	06/03/2019
Quarterly Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): June 2019	05/27/2019
Quarterly Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): March 2019	03/28/2019
What is a Network Service Vendor?	03/13/2019
Can a provider bill Medicare for missed appointments and receive reimbursement?	03/12/2019
Deductible and Coinsurance Write-off Amounts for Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMB)	03/12/2019
Do I need to complete a new provider enrollment form if I am making a change to my credentialing information?	03/12/2019
How can I determine what codes/procedures are bundled with a certain code in the CCI edits?	03/12/2019
How can I obtain a Medigap listing?	03/12/2019
How can Medicare Advantage plans (HMOs) affect your practice?	03/12/2019
How do I change my address with Medicare since our practice is moving?	03/12/2019
How do I find Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) information in the eServices portal?	03/12/2019
How do Locum Tenens arrangements work?	03/12/2019
How to Determine an Independent Diagnostic Testing Facility (IDTF)	03/12/2019
I have a Medicare remittance notice that shows an offset with a "WU" remark code. What does the "WU" indicate?	03/12/2019
I have a Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) situation involving consult codes. The primary insurer still accepts the consult codes, but Medicare does not. How should I submit my MSP claim?	03/12/2019
I provided split post-op care to a patient who had cataract surgery by another doctor. I added the split post-op care modifier to my visit code, but the service was not paid. Why?	03/12/2019
I see a reason code message J1 on my remittance notice that I have never seen before. Could you explain what this message means?	03/12/2019
If a patient presents to the office for an injection, infusion or venipuncture, would it be acceptable to submit an office or other outpatient visit CPT code?	03/12/2019
If our office incorrectly reconstituted Herceptin (Trastuzumab) using sterile water instead of bacteriostatic water, and we are unable to store and use the rest of the vial, can our facility bill for the wasted drug and the administered amount?	03/12/2019