Tower MSA Partners Rita Wilson and Dan Anders to Speak at NAMSAP Annual Conference

September 21, 2017

The NAMSAP Annual Conference – MSP Policy Palooza 2017  – takes place September 27-29 in Baltimore.

Tower MSA Partners’ CEO Rita Wilson and Chief Compliance Officer Daniel Anders, MSCC will participate in two sessions at the National Alliance of Medicare Set Asides Professionals (NAMSAP) Annual Conference this month.

New rules, new contractors, new risks, and the ever-changing healthcare landscape keep the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) industry in constant flux. Where is it heading and how can MSP companies guide clients through changes? Wilson will join Gary Patureau, of the Louisiana Association of Self Insured Employers (LASIE), Optum’s Lavonya Chapman, and Sedgwick’s Michael Merlino to examine trends and prognosticate about the future. “MSP Predictions” will start at 10:45 a.m. on September 29.

“With a new Workers’ Compensation Review Contractor (WCRC), a new WCMSA re-review announcement and the potential for changes with Liability MSAs, payers need MSP guidance now more than ever,” Wilson said. “Presented from the payers’ perspective, this session will focus on the challenges of the current environment, future predictions and a ‘call to action’ for the MSP industry to drive future behaviors.”

Anders and Contact Claims Services’ Jeff Knipper will present the Alignment of MSP Processes on September 27 at 4:30 p.m. This session explores the connection among Section 111 reporting, conditional payments and MSAs.

“Traditionally the industry has viewed these as separate activities and kept them in silos,” Anders said. “But each impacts the other and you need a continuous, cohesive process to accurately manage every aspect.”

The NAMSAP Annual Conference – MSP Policy Palooza2017  – will be held at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel September 27-29, 2017.

For more information on the conference, see:

For more information on the Tower MSA Partners presenters, see:

Tower MSA to Host Free Webinar on Medicare Advantage, Part D Plan Recovery Recovery Rights

September 14, 2017

Tower MSA Partners will host a free webinar on Medicare Advantage and Part D Plan Recovery Rights on October 4 at 12:00 PM EDT. Tower MSA Partners is pleased to have Brian Bargender, of Humana, as the guest presenter for the Webinar. Humana is the second largest Medicare Advantage Plan and Part D plan in the country and has been the leading advocate for seeking reimbursement under the MSP Act from primary payers and Medicare beneficiaries for payments made through these plans.

Areas covered in the presentation are:

  • Intro to Medicare Advantage and Part D Plans
  • MSP guidance provided by CMS to MA and Part D Plans
  • MA and Part D MSP enforcement rights
  • Obstacles to enforcing MSP
  • Tips for addressing MSP with MA and Part D plans

To register for the Tower MSA Premier Webinar, click here.

To read more about the Webinar, click here to read article posted on WorkersCompCentral about the Webinar.

CMS to Transition to New MSA Review Contractor

September 11, 2017

On September 1, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the awarding of the contract for the Workers Compensation Review Contractor (WCRC) to Capitol Bridge, LLC. The $60 million contract is for one-year with the option of renewing for an additional four years.

Since 2003, CMS has had in place the WCRC for the purpose of reviewing Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA) proposals submitted to CMS for review and approval. The WCRC evaluates these proposals and provides a recommendation to the designated CMS Regional Office (RO) as to whether the proposed MSA amount adequately protects Medicare’s interests. If the WCRC disagrees with the proposal it will provide an alternate recommendation, either higher or lower, than the proposed amount. The CMS RO usually accepts the recommendation from the WCRC and issues the approval letter to the submitter of the proposed MSA.

Provider Resources, Inc., has been the WCRC for the past five years. It is unclear based upon the available information when Capitol Bridge will take over from Provider Resources, although the solicitation for the WCRC contract provided for a three-month transition period.

Tower MSA Takeaways

It is important to note that while the review contractor may change, the policies in place to review WCMSAs are set by CMS, not the contractor. Consequently, we do not anticipate any significant change to how WCMSAs are reviewed and approved under the new contractor. Nonetheless, there are some recent changes to the WCMSA Reference Guide, such as the Amended Review process, which will fall largely on Capitol Bridge to implement (See article: Practical Implications of the Revised CMS WCMSA Reference Guide). Also, as we advised in another article, CMS MSA Review Expansion to Liability Planned for 2018, the new WCRC contract provides for an optional expansion of the WCMSA review process to liability claims as of 7/1/2018. At this time, it is uncertain whether CMS will choose to move forward with such an expansion as of that date.

Given our experience with other CMS contractor transitions we anticipate the new contractor will have a learning curve, which may result in longer turnaround times for MSA submissions and some responses inconsistent with the prior contractor’s reviews. Tower MSA will, if necessary, address with CMS any WCMSA approval falling outside of established CMS guidelines.

We look forward to working with Capitol Bridge over the coming months and years to provide for an effective WCMSA review and approval process that benefits all interested parties. Tower MSA will continue to provide any relevant updates as Capitol Bridge transitions to its role as the WCRC.

Statement Regarding Hurricane Irma’s Impact on Tower MSA Partners Services

September 8, 2017

As the safety of Tower MSA Partners employees and their families is our utmost concern, Tower MSA’s office in Delray Beach, FL, may be closed on Monday, September 11, 2017, and longer depending upon the impact of Hurricane Irma on South Florida. In anticipation of this closure, we have implemented our business continuity plan which provides for our continued full service to our customers from locations outside of the storm’s path.

With server location for all of Tower’s systems in redundant facilities across the U.S. and relocating Tower staff to multiple backup facilities, business operations will function as normal. All phone inquiries and referrals should be directed to (888) 331-4941 and e-mail inquiries and referrals to referrals@towermsa.com. It is possible that you may experience a slight delay in response, but be assured your request will be handled expeditiously.

For urgent requests, additional contacts are as follows:

1. Compliance questions regarding conditional payments, MSAs and CMS submissions may be directed to Dan Anders, Chief Compliance Officer, at 847-946-2880.

2. Section 111 questions may be directed to Hany Abdelsayed, EVP of Strategic Services, at 916-818-8062.

3. Clinical MSA questions may be directed to Patricia Smith, EVP of Clinical Operations, at 321-320-1045.

We will continue to communicate post-Irma and advise all once we return to normal operations in our Delray office.

Thank you for your understanding and, most importantly, our thoughts and prayers to those who have been affected and will be affected by this storm.

Rita Wilson
CEO
Tower MSA Partners

CMS Releases Annual Report on CRC Conditional Payment Recovery

September 5, 2017

On 8/30/2017 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its annual report on the Commercial Repayment Center’s (CRC) Medicare conditional payment collections for the 2016 fiscal year (10/1/2015 through 9/30/2016). In short, the report documents the CRC identified $243.68 million in conditional payments, collected a net of $106.29 million and returned $88.35 million to the Medicare Trust Fund after subtracting collections costs.

The CRC, which is paid on a contingency basis, has responsibility for Medicare conditional payment recovery efforts involving Group Health Plans and Non-Group Health Plans (NGHP). NGHPs are liability insurance (including self-insurance, no-fault insurance or workers’ compensation). FY 2016 was the first fiscal year in which the CRC had responsibility for recovery of conditional payments from NGHPs, a task previously handled by the Benefits Coordination and Recovery Center (BCRC). Recovery claims involving Medicare beneficiaries remain with the BCRC.

A copy of the report may be found on the CMS website here.

Some observations from the report:

  • CMS does not split out GHP and NGHP recovery information which makes it difficult to ascertain, one, the effect of adding NGHPs to the CRC’s responsibility has had on overall collections and, two, the percentage of overall collections attributable to GHPs versus NGHPs.
  • Despite identifying $243.68 million on conditional payments, the CRC only recovered $117.40 million, shortly under half (48%) of the identified amounts. This may be the result of the provided data only documenting debts that are identified and collected within the fiscal year. The report indicates that collection of FY 2016 identified debts continues into the next fiscal year.
  • Connected to the above observation, it is disappointing that the CRC does not provide a more comprehensive multi-year view of its recovery work. Information such as amounts recovered over the past several years, average turnaround time from demand to repayment, and the above-mentioned GHP vs. NGHP data would be invaluable to understanding the overall program.
  • Provided in the report is a statement indicating amounts returned to the Medicare Trust Fund dropped from $125.05 million in FY 2015 to $88.35 million in FY 2016. CMS attributes the drop to “a decrease in GHP recoveries due in part to the maturity of the mandatory insurer reporting under Section 111 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 decreasing the instances of mistaken payments, as well as the CRC’s resolution of pending available recoveries.” This drop is nonetheless surprising given that FY 2016 marked the CRC’s first year recovering from NGHPs!

Takeaways

We do not recommend any changes to your Medicare conditional payment resolution program or process based upon the report. The report merely provides a window into the efforts by the CRC at recovering conditional payments from GHPs and NGHPs.