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June 2008 - ABN Updated Information
Clinical Laboratory
Coalition's comments on the draft instructions for preparing the
revised form CMS-R-131, ABN
Clinical
Laboratory Coalition letter to CMS requesting an extension of
the September 1, 2008, deadline for using the new ABN
Email response from CMS
The following is from CMS
Announcement of
the Implementation of the Revised ABN
March 3, 2008
On Monday, March 3, 2008, CMS will implement use of
the revised Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN)
(CMS-R-131). This form replaces the General Use ABN (CMS-R-131-G),
and the Lab ABN (CMS-R-131-L) for physician-ordered laboratory
tests. The form and notice instructions will be posted on the
Beneficiary Notice Initiative web page (www.cms.hhs.gov\bni). We
will post updated manual instructions and the Spanish version of the
form on the BNI web page in the near future.
Some key features of the new form are that it:
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Has a new official title, the “Advance Beneficiary Notice of
Noncoverage (ABN)”, in order to more clearly convey the purpose
of the notice;
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Replaces both the existing ABN-G and ABN-L;
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May also be used for voluntary notifications, in place of the
Notice of Exclusion from Medicare Benefits (NEMB);
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Has a mandatory field for cost estimates of the items/services
at issue; and
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Includes a new beneficiary option, under which an individual may
choose to receive an item/service, and pay for it out-of-pocket,
rather than have a claim submitted to Medicare.
CMS will allow a 6-month transition period from the
date of implementation for use of
the revised form and instructions. Thus, all providers and suppliers
must begin using the
new ABN (CMS-R-131) no later than September 1, 2008. Questions about
the new ABN
may be sent to
RevisedABN_ODF@cms.hhs.gov.
CMS Requests
Additional Public Comment on the Revised ABN
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1996-2008 AAB
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