Home health agencies who have
NGS has been awarded the Jurisdiction 6 (J6) A/B Medicare Administrative Contract by CMS, NGS parent Wellpoint Inc. says in a release. The J6 contract includes the Home Health & Hospice MAC duties for Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Wisconsin, and Washington.
The five-year contract is worth about $273 million, Wellpoint estimates.
"Barring any delays ... the implementation activities ... will begin immediately," CMS says in a question-and-answer set about the award at www.cms.gov/MedicareContractingReform/Downloads/J6-and-J8-questions-and-answers-09302011.pdf. A delay could arise if another bidding contractor protests the award.
The announcement should add some stability to the HHH MAC situation in the region, believes consultant Tom Boyd with Rohnert Park, Calif.-based Boyd & Nicholas. "NGS has been losing staff ... and providers (and consultants) have been nervous," Boyd says.