On March 28, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it is expanding the Accelerated and Advance Payment Program for all Medicare providers throughout the country during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The payments can be requested by hospitals, doctors, durable medical equipment suppliers, and other Medicare Part A and Part B providers and suppliers.

To qualify for accelerated or advance payments, the provider or supplier must:

• Have billed Medicare for claims within 180 days immediately prior to the date of signature on the provider’s/ supplier’s request form,
• Not be in bankruptcy,
• Not be under active medical review or program integrity investigation, and
• Not have any outstanding delinquent Medicare overpayments.

Medicare will start accepting and processing the Accelerated/Advance Payment Requests immediately. CMS anticipates that the payments will be issued within seven days of the provider’s request. Access CMS fact sheet for more information.

Posted 3/29/2020