New Medicare Enrollment Fee in Effect
A new Medicare enrollment fee is now in effect to cover the costs of the enhanced supplier screenings mandated in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Effective March 25, 2011, all newly enrolling suppliers, revalidating suppliers, and/or suppliers opening a new location are required to pay a $505 fee upon submission of their Medicare (re)enrollment application (via the CMS-855S or PECOS). For suppliers opening or revalidating multiple locations, a separate $505 fee is required per location. The fee will be adjusted each year based on changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U).
All currently enrolled suppliers are required to undergo re-validation (and pay an application fee) by March 23, 2012… even if your 3-year enrollment cycle is not scheduled to end until after this date.
[Note: Many of you may have noticed that the NSC has basically stopped requesting re-enrollments due to a backlog of applications. It now appears that the NSC will be forced to revalidate all suppliers within the next year.]
Coincidentally, the requirement for all suppliers to undergo revalidation no later than March 23, 2012 also falls during the same time that many suppliers will be simultaneously working towards renewing their accreditation. Accreditation was made mandatory in October of 2009, and suppliers must generally become reaccredited every 3 years.
Historically, suppliers have been instructed to wait until they receive a notice of re-enrollment letter from the NSC to being the revalidation process. At this time, the NSC has not released guidance on whether suppliers may voluntarily begin the reenrollment process prior to the March 23, 2012 deadline, or whether suppliers who are currently past due for revalidation may proactively start the process.
Full details on the new enrollment fee, including how the fee must be paid, are included in the April issue of Vista Notes.
Tags: DME, Medicare enrollment fee, MiraVista, NSC, NSC application, Vista Notes