Home Health & Hospice Week

If you find yourself in a bind and needing an Extended Repayment Schedule from Medicare, you’ll have some new procedures to follow.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has revised its ERS protocols in CR 11128 at www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Guidance/Transmittals/2019Downloads/R312FM.pdf.

Among the changes is a provision about short ERSs — in other words, those shorter than the usual 12-to-36-month timeframe. “Contractors should consider ERS requests for 6-11 months on a case-by-case basis,” CMS tells Medicare Adminis­trative Contractors in the transmittal. “Approval should only be for cases where it is clear that the debt can be repaid in this short period.”

If you request a 6-to-11 month ERS, you won’t have to submit financial documentation if you meet the hardship qualifications and do not “fall within a scenario found in section 50.3(1),” according to the transmittal at www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Guidance/Transmittals/2019Downloads/R312FM.pdf.