HHS Extends ERRP Claim List Submission Deadline

02 April 2012 / ERRP / 0 Comment

As posted on ERRP.gov The deadline for Plan Sponsors that have received ERRP reimbursement for a given plan year to submit an error-free Claim List that passes the automated edits and an associated reimbursement request for that plan year has been extended from March 30, 2012 to April 27, 2012. Federal regulations at 45 C.F.R. §149.335 require Plan Sponsors to submit documentation of the actual costs of the items and services for claims being submitted. Plan Sponsors who have received ERRP reimbursement but who have not submitted an error-free Claim List and a corresponding reimbursement request by April 27, 2012, will no longer be able to submit requests for reimbursements after such date, and CMS will initiate procedures for recoupment of the funds paid to the Plan Sponsors for such plan years. In the case of such collection, any funds returned to the program will be used to pay outstanding reimbursement requests in the order in which they were received.

Notice Announcing Deadline for Using ERRP Funds

21 March 2012 / ERRP / 0 Comment

As posted on ERRP.gov, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a Federal Register notice establishing a timeframe by which plan sponsors participating in the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) are expected to use ERRP reimbursement funds. Sponsors are expected to use such funds as soon as possible, but not later than December 31, 2014. This notice reiterates and formalizes the information included in ERRP Common Question.

Funding Runs Out for Early Retiree Reinsurance Program

21 February 2012 / ERRP / 0 Comment

On February 17, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid published an updated reimbursement report that identified the payments that have been made to Plan Sponsors from the 5 billion dollars appropriated to this temporary program. As of that date, the funding that was made available to eligible plan sponsors has run out. This leaves thousands of ERRP Plan Sponsors wondering what they should do now.

According to Health and Human Services, reimbursement requests which exceed the program's $5 billion will now be held in the order of receipt, pending the availability of funds that may become available through recoupment of overpayments. As previously reported, Plan Sponsors with reimbursement requests on hold can expect to receive an email notifying them that their reimbursement requests have been placed on hold pending the availability of funds. If you receive such an email, you may call the ERRP Contact Center to obtain updated information on the position of your reimbursement request in the list of held reimbursement requests.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid will continue to pay reimbursement requests in the order received until available funds are exhausted. If there are not sufficient funds to pay in its entirety the first reimbursement request that causes the initial exhaustion of the funds available for payment, CMS will partially honor that reimbursement request, and will pay the balance of that reimbursement request if additional funds become available through recoupment of overpayments.

It is extremely important to note that Plan Sponsors who have received funds through this Program must submit an error-free claims list before March 30^th or you will be at risk of losing the funding you have received, allowing it to become available for another Plan Sponsor. As posted on the last ERRP.gov announcement, absent the submission of such an error-free claim list and a corresponding reimbursement request, CMS will initiate procedures for recoupment of the funds paid to the Plan Sponsor. Funds returned to the Program as a result of recoupment efforts will be used to pay outstanding reimbursement requests in the order in which they were received.

The pressure is on for Plan Sponsors to keep their ERRP subsidy. If you are in need of assistance regarding data aggregation for an error free claims list, please contact RDS Services immediately.

How Plan Sponsors Can Avoid Forfeiting ERRP Monies

20 January 2012 / ERRP / 0 Comment

Has your organization collected ERRP reimbursement prior to October 3^rd, 2011? If so, proceed with caution before spending the monies. There are many unsuspecting plan sponsors that have yet to complete the last and most important step of the ERRP program requirements.

In fact, according to the latest HHS report dated December 2, 2011, over 1,000 plan sponsors who received money from ERRP before October 3^rd, 2011 have yet to submit a supporting error-free claim list.  This list is required by March 30^th, 2012.  Per the ERRP Common Question H1100-15, “if a Plan Sponsor fails to do so by the deadline, then the reimbursed amount will be determined to be unsubstantiated, and CMS will initiate processes to collect such amount back from the Plan Sponsor.”

Our company, RDS Services, LLC of Troy, Michigan has a program to ensure that this requirement is completed before the deadline.   

Given the complexity of this review system, many plan sponsors are struggling to provide an error-free claims list to support their ERRP reimbursement Plan Sponsors who submit a detail claim list to HHS must pass through 5 levels of claim audit before receiving an “approval” to submit a reimbursement request.

RDS Services is, and has been, successfully aggregating and submitting error-free claim lists for our clients through this new automated review system. Our database program will aggregate your vendor(s) data, detect errors, format data to be ERRP ready, and ensure that you submit an error-free claims list and supporting reimbursement prior to the March 30, 2012 deadline. 

Please contact me to discuss our services further if you need our assistance.