NUCC’s Form CMS-1500 Policy Change Timeline

If you’re a medical professional involved in Medicare claims processing, you’re probably aware of the challenge of converting your Medicare billing procedures to comply with the new Medicare claims requirements. In support of this, the National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC) has authorized a new Form CMS-1500 (version 02/12).

Though the implementation timeline is subject to change, as of now, after April 1, 2014, Medicare will only process paper claims submitted on the revised CMS-1500 version 02/12. The NUCC states: “The end product … is one standard data set, with complete and unambiguous data definitions, for use in the electronic environment, but applicable to and consistent with evolving paper claim form standards.”

NUCC Form CMS-1500 (version 02/12) Implementation Schedule

• January 6, 2014 —Processing of paper claims via the revised CMS-1500 claim form (version 02/12) begins.
• January 6, 2014 — March 31, 2014 — Period during which Medicare will process claims submitted via the old CMS-1500 claim form (version 08/05), as well as on the new revised CMS-1500 claim form (version 02/12).
• April 1, 2014 —Only the revised CMS-1500 claim form (version 02/12) will be processed by Medicare.

In practical terms, medical offices have approximately 90 days from now to begin ramping up to use NUCC’s new CMS-1500, and less than 6 months until Medicare stops paying off of the old CMS-1500 08/05 form.

The Filing Supplies Shop analyzed the new CMS-1500 form as soon as it was available. The new form varies markedly from the old, with a changed structure requiring expanded data:

• More diagnosis codes have been added, for a total of 12.
• ICD-9 and ICD-10 diagnosis codes are differentiated by indicators.
• Provider role qualifiers have been added: supervising, ordering and referring.

The Filing Supplies Shop has all of the necessary new forms for the transition, along with ancillary supplies such as End Tab Folders, Top Tab Folders and all the appropriate Filing Labels. Our CMS-1500 forms are and will continue to be on 20lb paper and designed to accommodate the needs of high-speed OCR scanning. Everything will be shipped in ample time to help you make a smooth change to the new claims’ filing requirements.

Other Filing Supplies Shop Medical Office Products

We offer a wide range of other medical forms, notably hospital and home health care claim forms, attending dentist and physician order forms, and lab mount sheets. Additionally, confidential patient sign-in logs and narcotic control sets can be found at The Filing Supplies Shop. All forms comply with the requirements of the applicable regulatory agencies.