In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS will provide accelerated payments to requesting providers and advance payments to requesting suppliers, including physicians and non-physician practitioners, who submit a request to the appropriate Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) and meet the criteria:
CMS intends to provide assistance first to those providers and suppliers that experience increased demand and surge in patients. MACs responsible for processing accelerated/advance payment requests for different states, will prioritize those states that were hit the hardest (currently, these states are reported to be California, New York, and Washington).
Most providers and suppliers will be able to request up to 100% of the Medicare payment amount for a three-month period. However, Inpatient acute care hospitals, children’s hospitals, and certain cancer hospitals are able to request up to 100% of the Medicare payment amount for a six-month period. Critical access hospitals (CAH) can request up to 125% of their payment amount for a six-month period. Based on this formula, qualified providers/suppliers will be asked to request a specific amount using an Accelerated/Advanced Payment Request Document provided on each MAC’s website.
Criteria:
- Have billed Medicare for claims within 180 days immediately prior to the date of signature on the provider’s/supplier’s request form,
- Is not in bankruptcy,
- Not be under active medical review or program integrity investigation, and
- Does not have any outstanding delinquent Medicare overpayments.
