Most skilled nursing facilities (SNF) experience some difficulties billing Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, according to a recent reader survey conducted in an HCPro, Inc., long-term care e-newsletter. MA plans are created by private insurance companies that have contracted with CMS to replace the traditional Medicare programs for beneficiaries who choose to enroll in these plans. The MA plans make many of their own coverage and billing rules (within certain parameters set by CMS). Consequently, the rules for the MA plans are much less standardized than the Part A and Part B rules followed by the fiscal intermediaries (FI) and Part A/B Medicare administrative contractors (A/B MAC).
