COVID-19 spurs CMS to delay mandatory use of new noncoverage form

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last week it will delay a rule requiring physicians to use a new version of its Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN) form (Form CMS-R-131).

We previously reported that CMS would require the new form starting Aug. 31. But due to COVID-19, the agency has now pushed that date to Jan. 1, 2021.

The ABN form is used to inform Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries that they may be financially liable for a service before they receive it. When completed, the form permits physicians and other qualified health professionals to collect from the beneficiary if Medicare denies the service.

You can still use the new version of the ABN form before the mandatory deadline, if you wish. The form and instructions remain available on the CMS website.

— Kent Moore, Senior Strategist for Physician Payment at the American Academy of Family Physicians