You may recall we posted about key Medicare changes back in October. April is now only days away and that means implementation of one of those key changes is upon us. As of April 1, 2020, Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) submissions must include an updated Consent to Release (CTR) form containing additional language indicating the claimant had the MSA process explained and the claimant approves of the contents of the MSA proposal.

Specifically, the new language is “I have had the Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside Arrangement and process explained to me, and I approve of the contents of the submission.” The beneficiary must initial this statement in addition to signing the CTR form, a sample of which may be found here. Quick refresher: a Consent to Release form must be signed by a Medicare beneficiary in order for Medicare to review an MSA proposal. The CTR authorizes Medicare to disclose information to the submitter of the MSA. The form is limited in the sense that it only applies to the injury settlement being addressed in the MSA.

ECS offers a number of resources that can be used to explain the submission process to claimants, including access to our experienced team of MSP Compliance attorneys, our Customer Care Team, as well as our structured settlement and professional administration partners.

ExamWorks Clinical Solutions follows updates from Medicare very closely. Well in advance of this change, ExamWorks revised our CTR forms to include the new required language and have been using updated forms without issue.

Finally, please know the team here at ExamWorks Clinical Solutions hopes you, your families, and colleagues are safe. We know Medicare Secondary Payer compliance may not be at the top of your “most important” list right now by any stretch, so we thank you kindly for taking time to read this post about the latest in MSP compliance.