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Announcement of the Implementation of the Revised Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN) (GEN)
Posted March 20, 2008
On March 3, 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented 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 are posted on the Beneficiary Notice Initiative Web page at www.cms.hhs.gov/BNI (to access the revised form and instructions from this main BNI Web page, select “FFS ABN-G and ABN-L” in the left-hand menu). CMS 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:
- Has a new official title, the “Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN),” in order to more clearly convey the purpose of the notice;
- Replaces both the existing ABN-G and ABN-L;
- May also be used for voluntary notifications, in place of the Notice of Exclusion from Medicare Benefits (NEMB);
- Has a mandatory field for cost estimates of the items/services at issue; and
- 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.
Revised ABN Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Below are a couple of the revised frequently asked questions (FAQs) that CMS has posted on the BNI Web page.
Q. May we translate the revised ABN into other languages?
A. The ABN is an OMB-approved form and cannot be altered except as permitted by the accompanying instructions. The ABN is available in English and will soon be available in Spanish. Notifiers should choose the appropriate version of the ABN based on the language the beneficiary best understands.
When Spanish-language ABNs are used, the notifier should make insertions on the notice in Spanish. For beneficiaries who speak languages other than English or Spanish, verbal assistance in other languages may be provided to help beneficiaries understand the notice. Notifiers should document any translation assistance that they provide in the “Additional Information” section of the notice.
Q. Will skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) be required to use the revised ABN?
A. No, the revised SNFABN will cover all Part B items/services delivered in a SNF and will be available before September 1, 2008. Therefore, SNFs may continue using the current ABN-G for Part B items/services until the revised SNFABN is implemented. |
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