The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it is holding Medicare claims for a short period of time beginning on April 1. The processing delay will allow CMS to implement any Congressional action put forward to address the negative 21% payment rate adjustment under current law for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Claims for services rendered on or before March 31, 2015, are unaffected by the payment cut and will be processed and paid under normal procedures and time frames.
According to CMS, holding claims also minimizes claims reprocessing and disruption of physician cash flow in the event of legislation addressing the 21% payment reduction. Under current law, electronic claims are not paid sooner than 14 calendar days (29 days for paper claims) after the date of receipt. CMS has indicated that it will provide more information about next steps by April 11, 2015.
