The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is releasing a revised Form CMS-855R for physicians and non-physicians practitioners to reassign their Medicare benefits. There will be a two-month transition window, during which providers can use the old form, last updated in 2016, or the new form, which is set to be published by CMS any day now. Beginning May 1, 2020, only the updated form will be accepted.
Form CMS-855R is used by providers to reassign their right to bill the Medicare program and receive Medicare Part B payments to an eligible individual, clinic/group practice, or other health care organization. The individual or group to whom the benefits are reassigned then submits claims and receives payment on the provider’s behalf. Form CMS-855-R also is used to change or terminate a reassignment, and with the revised form, providers will be able to identify a secondary practice address or select “Change of Reassignment Information” as the reason for submitting the form.
In order for a reassignment to take effect, both the individual provider and the eligible organization/group must be currently enrolled or concurrently enrolling in the Medicare program. According to Medicare, the organization/group accepting the reassignment usually submits CMS-855R to initiate the change; however, either the organization/group or the individual practitioner may submit the form when terminating a current reassignment.
In addition to using form CMS-855R, all of these requests also can be made using Medicare’s Internet-based Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS).
For more information about the Medicare reassignment process, as well as Medicare enrollment in general, visit the Medicare Provider-Supplier Enrollment page of CMS.gov. For more information about online enrollment through PECOS, visit the Internet-based PECOS page. Finally, since the new Form CMS-855R has not yet been published, check back regularly to the Enrollment Applications page, which has links to all current enrollment forms.
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