As we’ve reported a number of times over the past few months, Medicare payments for thousands of Northern California physicians are at risk. Affected are physicians who work for or contract with groups in Northern California and need to submit an updated 855R form to reassign their Medicare payments to their group(s).

CMA has learned that some physicians who have already submitted the proper paperwork are still not being paid, largely because of a backlog of reenrollment forms from Northern California physicians. If your Medicare payments have been denied or delayed, first check the Center for Medicare & Medicare Services’ list of top NPI-related error codes. (Click here to view this list, including instructions on how to correct the errors.) If your payment problems are not related to these common billing errors, and you believe you are among those physicians affected by the group reassignment issue, please call CMA’s Reimbursement Helpline, 888/401-5911. CMA may be able to help expedite the enrollment process and get your payments back on track.

To help CMA assess the extent of this problem, county medical societies will be surveying members. If you have not received a survey from your county, you may request a copy by calling CMA’s Reimbursement Helpline.

Contact: Michele Kelly, 888/401-5911 or mkelly@cmanet.org.