As explained in a prior blog, CMS will grant providers advance payment of three-months of Medicare claims, with repayment due by the 120th day of issuance of payment. After that time, interest will attach to the unpaid balance and CMS will apply 100% of the payment for new claims to the unpaid balance. The interest rate varies and will be based on prevailing rates at the time.
Since this payment process is also available to Part A providers, several advocacy groups have proposed different provisions for the unpaid balance. The American Medical Association (AMA) is proposing:
- Postponing the recoupment for one year after issuance of payment
- Reducing the per-claim recoupment to 25% instead of 100%
- Extending the repayment to two years instead of 120 days
- Waiving interest due during the extended payment period
- Authorizing more than one advance payment
No decisions have been made on repayment proposals as of this writing.