What is timely filing for Medicare secondary claims?

Asked by: Ms. Colleen Marvin  |  Last update: October 9, 2025
Score: 4.6/5 (66 votes)

Medicare regulations at 42 CFR 424.44 define the timely filing period for Medicare fee for service claims. In general, such claims must be filed to the appropriate Medicare claims processing contractor no later than 12 months, or 1 calendar year, after the date the services were furnished.

What is the timely filing limit for Medicare secondary payer?

What is the filing limit for Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) claims? The timely filing requirement for primary or secondary claims is one calendar year (12 months) from the date of service.

What is the Medicare secondary payer rule?

In certain situations, however, federal Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) law prohibits Medicare from making payments for an item or service when payment has been made, or can reasonably be expected to be made, by another insurer such as a liability plan.

What is the timely filing limit for Medicare claims?

Medicare claims must be filed no later than 12 months (or 1 full calendar year) after the date when the services were provided unless an exception applies. If a claim isn't filed within this time, Medicare won't pay its share.

How long are providers required to retain Medicare secondary payer records?

Based on this regulation, hospitals must document and maintain MSP information for Medicare beneficiaries. Without this documentation, the A/B MACs and DME MACs would have nothing to audit submitted claims against. CMS recommends that providers retain MSP information for 10 years.

Timely Filing of Part B Claims

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When Medicare is the secondary payer the claim must be submitted using what form?

To prepare the MSP claim, use the following guidelines: Complete the claim form CMS-1500 or electronic equivalent in the usual manner. Report all claim coding usually required for the services including charges for all Medicare-covered services, not just the balance remaining after the primary payer's payment.

What is the statute of limitations for Medicare Secondary Payer Act?

Response: Under 28 U.S.C. 2462, the applicable statute of limitations is 5 years. Although section 1862(b)(2)(B)(iii) of the Act establishes a 3-year statute of limitations for certain actions, that provision applies only to legal actions CMS may utilize for the recovery of MSP debts.

What is the timely filing deadline?

Timely filing is when an insurance company put a time limit on claim submission. For example, if a insurance company has a 90-day timely filing limit that means you need to submit a claim within 90 days of the date of service.

When would a bill for secondary insurance coverage be created?

When Can You Bill Secondary Insurance Claims? You can submit a claim to secondary insurance once you've billed the primary insurance and received payment (remittance). It's important to remember you can't bill both primary and secondary insurance at the same time.

What is the timeliness for CMS claims processing?

Original (or initial) Medi-Cal claims must be received by the FI within six months following the month in which services were rendered. This requirement is referred to as the six-month billing limit.

What are the cases when Medicare is the secondary payer?

In most cases, if the patient is still employed, the employer's insurance is primary and the Medicare is secondary. If the Medicare-beneficiary spouse of this employee is covered on the same insurance, the spouse would also have Medicare as a secondary payer, whatever the spouse's employment status.

What is the 2 2 2 rule in Medicare?

Introduced in the Fiscal Year 2014 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Final Rule, the two-midnight rule specifies that Medicare will pay for inpatient hospital admissions when a physician reasonably expects the patient's care to require a stay that crosses two midnights, and the medical record supports this ...

When can Medicare be a secondary payer?

Medicare may be the secondary payer when a person: has a GHP through their own or a spouse's employment, and the employer has more than 20 employees. has a disability and is covered by a GHP through an employer with more than 100 employees.

How do I bill Medicare as a secondary payer?

When Medicare is the secondary payer, submit the claim first to the primary insurer. The primary insurer must process the claim in accordance with the coverage provisions of its contract.

What is an acceptable time frame for claims follow up?

Follow up on all claims should begin as soon as 7 to 10 days after your claim has been submitted to the insurance company. Pursuing to get claims paid immediately will not only reduce the time you spend on accounts receivable but will also increase cash flow.

Does Medicare automatically send claims to secondary insurance?

A: Claims submitted to Medicare by the beneficiary aren't automatically crossed over to the secondary insurance. Once your claim has processed by Medicare you can submit a copy of the Medicare Summary Notice (MSN) received to your secondary insurance.

When submitting secondary claims, what is required?

Fill in any required information displayed in red fields. In this example, you need to complete the following fields: the Insured I.D. Number in box 1a, the Secondary Insured Name, the Secondary Insured's Policy, the Secondary Payer Name, and the Secondary Relationship.

What is a secondary insurance to Medicare is called?

Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) is extra insurance you can buy from a private health insurance company to help pay your share of out-of-pocket costs in. Original Medicare. Original Medicare.

What is the secondary billing process?

The Billing Process for Secondary Insurance Claims

Submit Primary Claim: The first step in billing secondary insurance is to submit a claim to the primary insurance carrier. Once the primary claim is processed and any applicable payments or denials are received, you can proceed with billing the secondary insurance.

What is the timely filing rule for Medicare?

advise that the timely filing period for both paper and electronic Medicare claims is 12 months, or one calendar year, after the date of service. Claims are denied if they arrive after the deadline date.

What is the timely mailing timely filed rule?

In accordance with Treasury regulations, privately metered mail is entitled to timely-maillng-timely-filing treatment if (1 ) the private postmark bears a timely date, that is, a date on or before the due date of the document, and (2) the document is received no later than the time ordinarily required for the delivery ...

What is the timely filing for secondary claims for Medicare?

In general, such claims must be filed to the appropriate Medicare claims processing contractor no later than 12 months, or 1 calendar year, after the date the services were furnished. (See section §70.7 below for details of the exceptions to the 12 month timely filing limit.)

What is Medicare Secondary Payer Reporting?

Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) is the term generally used when the Medicare program does not have primary payment responsibility - that is, when another entity has the responsibility for paying before Medicare.

How long do you have to bill a Medicare claim?

Effective immediately, any Medicare Fee-For-Service claim with a date of service on or after January 1, 2010, must be received by your Medicare contractor no later than one calendar year (12 months) — or Medicare will deny the claim. Yes, one calendar year.