Defining QMB The QMB (Qualified Medicare Beneficiary) program is a State Medicaid benefit that guides low-income Medicare beneficiaries through Medicare Part A and Part B premiums and cost-sharing. This includes deductibles, coinsurance, and copays. You will likely have QMB patients seeking treatment in your clinic given the fact that in 2017, 7.7 million people (more…
What is QMB?
This tutorial discusses an important compliance related topic that impacts all clinics that accept and treat Medicare beneficiaries. Sadly, in most clinics, the requirements surrounding a Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) is often ignored resulting in serious violations of Medicare regulations.
An Overview of Medicare Verification
It’s important to understand the difference between true verification and an eligibility check. There are so many layers to understanding the coverage a Medicare patient has that you must follow each step methodically. Whether the patient has Medicare Part B or Medicare Part C is the first critical bit of information you must be aware…
Medicare Provider Numbers
Where to Find Medicare Provider Numbers When a clinic needs to obtain information from Medicare, whether it be verifying primary status or following up on an appeal or reconsideration, the Medicare representative or phone prompt will ask for the Medicare provider number. Staff will hit a dead end if they do not know where to…
Other Types of Medicare Plans
Beyond Traditional Medicare Part B As healthcare costs increase, patients will look for insurance with more benefits and less out of pocket cost. That is why many Medicare beneficiaries look at replacing their traditional Medicare coverage with a replacement plan such as a Medicare Part C also known as Medicare Advantage. These plans are very…
Medicare Reference Documents-Signature Guidelines
Download Reference Documents Medicare publishes helpful documents and alerts to keep providers in the know about important topics. Included here are several documents that relate specifically to the rules of properly signing the medical record notes of patients. These tools relate to the elements of signatures, authentication, and attestation, should that be necessary. We’ve also…