The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) will allow facilities and suppliers to charge Medicare beneficiaries for missed appointments, effective October 1, 2007.
- Providers may not charge only Medicare beneficiaries for missed appointments; they must also charge non-Medicare patients;
- The fee charged to Medicare beneficiaries must be the same as that charged to non-Medicare patients; and
- There cannot be discrimination against Medicare beneficiaries in the application of no-show fees.
The charge for a missed appointment is not a charge for a service itself, but rather a charge for a missed business opportunity. Medicare itself does not pay for missed appointments, so such charges should not be billed to Medicare.
For complete details, please see the official instruction (CR5613) on the CMS Web site [PDF] issued to your Medicare carrier or intermediary. If you have questions, you may contact your carrier or intermediary at their toll-free number which may be found at on the CMS Web site. You may also e-mail reimbursement@asha.org with questions or for further information.
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