The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the Medicare revalidation deadline for providers and suppliers to 2015.
"CMS has reevaluated the revalidation requirement in the Affordable Care Act, and believes it affords the flexibility to extend the revalidation period for another two years. This will allow for a smoother process for providers and contractors," said the agency in its Medicare Learning Network's MLN Matters publication released earlier this month.
The Affordable Care Act set up a requirement that all providers and suppliers enrolled in Medicare must revalidate their enrollment information using new enrollment screening criteria. The revalidation effort applies to those who enrolled prior to March 25, 2011.
The extension does not affect those who have already received revalidation notices. Those who have received revalidation notices should continue the process. Under the extension, revalidation notices will be sent through March 2015.
The American Medical Association is reporting that the extension of the revalidation deadline is a result of pressure put on CMS from physician organizations and that the association had requested a delay in September and had asked CMS to take another look at the ACA requirement.
In a story posted on its website today, the AMA said that it and other organizations stressed to CMS that Medicare contractors would have had a hard time meeting the revalidation deadline and that resulting backups may have meant that some providers and suppliers could have been inadvertently banned from participating in the Medicare program.
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