Insurers Laud Postponement of New CMS Rules

Insurers are welcoming the news they will have another year before new reporting requirements mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are implemented.

The CMS says property/casualty insurers will now have until Jan. 1, 2012 to adhere to the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) liability claims rules. The MSP requirements are intended to ensure Medicare remains the secondary payer when a beneficiary has medical expenses that should be paid by a private insurance plan.

“We are pleased that CMS decided to push back the reporting deadline again until more specific guidelines can be provided on several outstanding issues,” said Peter Foley, VP for claims administration and chair of the MSP Task Force at the American Insurance Association. “The insurance industry will comply with the requirements, but complete and correct information is needed so that the industry’s data can be assembled in the most useful way possible for CMS."