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Medicare issues reminder about nine-day payment hold

Rehab Regs, September 1, 2006

In a recent open door forum, CMS issued a reminder to all providers who bill Medicare contractors for their services that a brief hold will be placed on Medicare payments for all claims from September 22 through September 30-the last nine days of the federal fiscal year.

Section 5203 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2006 mandates these payment delays. Interest will not accrue and late penalties will not be paid to any entities or individual by reason of this one-time hold on payments.

All claims held during this time should be paid on October 2, though the nine-day hold may be even longer for contractors handling large volumes of paper checks.

This policy only applies to claims subject to payment. It does not apply to full denials, no-pay claims, and other non-claim payments such as periodic interim payments, home heath request for anticipated payments, and cost report settlements, according to CMS.

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