Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) is the term given to describe situations where Medicare does not pay first on a claim. Medicare is the secondary payer for beneficiaries who are covered by other types of health insurance or plan.

A Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) overpayment can occur when Medicare has processed and paid a claim as the primary payer, but should have paid as secondary. 

Reporting an MSP overpayment to Medicare without submitting a payment
The MSP Inquiry Form must be submitted along with the primary insurer EOBs. To ensure timely processing of your request, this form should be used for any Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) request pertaining to primary or secondary payment of claims.

Helpful Hints

• Please forward all inquiries for MSP Recovery to the Benefits Coordination & Recovery Center (BCRC)
• Do not include a refund check with the form
• Only use this form if Medicare should have paid as secondary to a primary insurance
• Do not use this form for new claim submissions
• Do not use this form for situations that involve the Veteran’s Administration
• To ensure accurate and timely processing, please avoid handwritten information when completing the form

Reporting an MSP overpayment to Medicare with payment
If you are submitting a payment along with the disclosed overpayment, the appropriate MSP Voluntary Refund form must be submitted along with the primary insurer EOBs. For more information on MSP Voluntary Refunds and the forms to submit, please see the "Submit a Voluntary Refund" section this site.

Please see the form link(s) below

• Medicare Secondary Payer Inquiry Form (PDF, 739 KB)

CMS Regulation References

• Publication 100-05 
• Publication 100-06, Chapter 5, Section 410 (PDF, 5.72 MB)