The National Renal Administrators Association sent out a notice to members yesterday warning them about a possible 10-day hold on Medicare claims at the beginning of the year.

As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services implements calendar year 2012 changes, Medicare claims administration contractors will be holding some institutional provider claims containing 2012 services for up to the first 10 business days of January, the NRAA said. Claims will be released as system testing is successfully completed, which is expected to occur during that time frame.
 
The hold should have minimal impact on provider cash flow, the NRAA said, because, under current law, clean electronic claims are not paid sooner than 14 calendar days (29 days for paper claims) after the date of receipt.  However, if clinic managers follow the status of their claim during the processing cycle, the claim status may not reflect what you would normally see because of the claims hold, the NRAA said.  
 
Medicare claims for services rendered on or before December 31 are unaffected by the 2012 claims hold and will be processed and paid under normal procedures and time frames.

For more information, go to the NRAA website at www.nraa.org.