February 25, 2009, Teleconference Event for Mandatory Reporting - Section 111

CMS announced during their Town Hall meeting conducted on February 25, 2009, that they will more than likely be implementing a minimum dollar threshold for files that will be required to be reported to them. This goes back to earlier points brought to Medicare’s attention that there should be “nuisance value” exclusions of reporting under Section 111 of the Medicare/Medicaid SCHIP Extension Act. Medicare gave no indication as to what the threshold level may be; however, this will help significantly reduce the number of claims that will be required to be reported, especially for liability claims.

In addition, Medicare also announced they will more than likely implement a cutoff date for old files that will require reporting, meaning that if the date of injury occurred before a certain date such files will not be required to be reported. This mainly affects workers’ compensation and no-fault claims as everyone knows there are many aged workers’ compensation and no-fault claims that are currently still open and will require reporting due to the continued obligation to pay medical expenses. Again, Medicare gave no indication as to what the cutoff date or look-back period will be, and we will keep you apprised as soon as we receive additional information. We just wanted to provide everyone with a brief summary of some of the highlights from the Feb. 25, 2009, Town Hall meeting.

Please feel free to contact the Attorneys at Burns White for any and all of your Medicare Set-Aside needs, 412-995-3000.