May 3rd, 2013 First Friday Conference Call Recordings Available
For those of you that did not make the First Friday of the Month Conference Call on 5/3/2013, you can listen to the recording here
The main topics were
2% sequester and autoposting update available
June 1, 2013, Availity will no longer support the free exchange of certain transactions for some people
BCBSM announces reduction in payer list
Mark's opinion on future of clearinghouses
March 1st, 2013 First Friday Conference Call Recordings Available
For those of you that did not make the First Friday of the Month Conference Call on 3/1/2013, you can listen to the recording here
The main topics were
UPDATE - Transition to BCBSM BCN 277CA reports and transactions
ICD-10
ehrTHOMAS going well
eTHOMAS 9.3 When should you update?
January 4th, 2013 First Friday Conference Call Recordings Available
For those of you that did not make the First Friday of the Month Conference Call on 1/4/2013, you can listen to the recording here
The main topics were
Check your procedure codes for the new year:
http://www.wpsmedicare.com/j5macparta/policy/updates/
BCBSM coverage decisions on 2013 HCPCS codes available on web-DENIS
BCBSM Medicare Advantage contract numbers include new alpha prefix
December 7th, 2012 First Friday Conference Call Recordings Available
For those of you that did not make the First Friday of the Month Conference Call on 12/7/2012, you can listen to the recording here
The main topics were BCBSMICD-10 Survey and Number of Diagnostic codes allowd
URGENT: WPS J8 MAC Medicare change starts at 2:00 Thursday 7/12/2012
BCBSM has announced they will stop taking Medicare claims with the current payor id on Thursday July 12 at 2pm. Claims sent after 2pm will reject with P935 PAYER ID FOR MEDICARE IS INVALID.
WPS officially starts payor id 08202 on Monday July 16, however they have announced "Dark Days" of Friday July 13 through Tuesday July 17. A dark day is a business day during the cutover period when the Medicare claims processing system is not available for normal business operations. System dark days may occur between the time the outgoing claims administration contractor ends its regular claims processing activities and the incoming claims administrative contractor begins its first day of normal business operations.
Genius is not certain what would happen if you sent Medicare claims with the new payor id between 2:01pm Thursday through 12:00am Monday. It is possible that BCBSM or WPS might hold them until they finish their dark days and process them normally, but we do not have any confirmation from BCBSM or WPS that this actually will happen.
Therefore Genius recommends you do all of your Medicare billing before 2pm on Thursday July 12. Then do no Medicare billing until July 16 or later. On July 16 go to your Insurance Code Files and change payor id 00953 to 08202. Don't change anything else and don't change it before July 16.
You can download step-by-step instructions here.
After you have changed your payor id on July 16 or later you should be able to resume sending your Medicare claims.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Does this affect Medicare Plus Blue, Medicare Advantage, DMERC, or Rail Road claims? No, only "straight Medicare". Only insurance companies that you currently have 00953 in as the payor id.
Can I change my payor id before Monday? You can try and hope they will go through, but we think it is prudent to just hang tight until July 16. In fact, we think it might be a good idea to wait a few days AFTER July 16 to let the dust settle down.
Should I add a new Insurance Code for the new payor id? NO
WPS says the contract number is changing? When WPS or CMS says "Contract Number" when talking about MAC or J8, they mean "Payor ID". Confusing we know.
What if I'm Medicare Part A (UB04 or Facility Billing)? You need to stop billing at 2pm on July 19. Then change payor id 00452 to 08201 on July 23 and resume sending.
July 6th, 2012 First Friday Conference Call Recordings Available
For those of you that did not make the First Friday of the Month Conference Call on 7/62012, you can listen to the recording here
The main topic was J8 WPS Medicare contract number changes July 16, 2012. You need to change it yourself, and step by step instructions.
On 7/16/2012, Wisconsin Physician Service (WPS) J8 affects Michigan Medicare Billers
On July 16, 2012, Wisconsin Physician Service (WPS) will begin administering Medicare claims for Michigan Part B using Payor ID 08202 instead of 00953. This means on July 16 you must change your THOMAS program to reflect the new Payor ID or you will begin receiving rejections for Invalid Payor ID on your Medicare claims.
You can download step-by-step instructions here.
Remember, don't change the Payor ID before July 16, and don't change anything other than the number 00953 to 08202. Don't add Insurance Codes, don't delete Insurance codes, don't change Financial Codes. Don't change patient policies. Nothing but the number 00953. You don't need to fill out any new paperwork either.
This will be a topic the July 6 First Friday of the Month Conference Call.
May 4th, 2012 First Friday Conference Call Recordings Available
For those of you that did not make the First Friday of the Month Conference Call on 5/4/2012, you can listen to the recording here
The topic was done with 5010 and looking to ICD-10
April 6th, 2012 First Friday Conference Call Recordings Available
For those of you that did not make the First Friday of the Month Conference Call on 4/6/2012, you can listen to the recording here
The topic was 5010, what's going on now
March 2nd, 2012 First Friday Conference Call Recordings Available
For those of you that did not make the First Friday of the Month Conference Call on 3/2/2012, you can listen to the recording here
The topic was 5010, what's going on now
