Effective January 1: Revised Medicare Beneficiary Signature Regulations

The newly revised Medicare Beneficiary Signature requirements as published in the 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule became effective January 1.

The revisions should ease some of the burden on ambulance suppliers by providing for the following:

1. The alternative method of fulfilling the rule by obtaining a signature from transporting personnel and documentation from the receiving facility has been extended to nonemergency transports.

2. The word "facility" has been added so that the alternative method of compliance can be used for any authorized facility (e.g., SNF) rather than just hospitals.

3. HHS clarified that the signature on the "claim form" does not actually mean the form that will be submitted for payment, but can be any form that contains adequate notice to the beneficiary or authorized individual who is signing that the purpose of the form is for the provider to submit the claim to Medicare for payment for the services.

To read the actual text of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, please click here. (Note that pages 136-139 of the document are applicable to the final signature requirements.)