Patients in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) Program Should Not Be Billed

15 de diciembre de 2020

If you participate in Blue Cross Medicare AdvantageSM plans, you may not bill our members enrolled in QMB, a federal Medicare savings program.

QMB patients are dual eligible beneficiaries, which means they are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. As a state Medicaid benefit, QMB covers the Medicare Advantage premiums, deductibles, coinsurance and copayments of QMB beneficiaries. QMB beneficiaries are not responsible for Medicare Advantage cost-sharing, or out-of-pocket costs.

For services you provide to QMB patients, you must:

  • Bill both Medicare Advantage and Medicaid
  • Accept Medicare Advantage payments and any Medicaid payments as payment in full

Tips to avoid billing QMB patients

Please ensure that you and your staff are aware of the federal billing law and policies governing QMB. It is against federal law for any Medicare provider to bill QMB patients, whether or not the provider accepts Medicaid. Per your Medicare Provider Agreement, you may be sanctioned if you inappropriately bill QMB patients for Medicare cost-sharing.

To avoid billing QMB patients, please take these precautions:

  • Identify QMB patients by looking for Blue Cross Medicare Advantage Dual CareSM or Blue Cross Medicare Advantage Dual Care PlusSM on member ID cards
  • Check the New Mexico Medicaid portal Más información sobre enlaces de terceros to confirm QMB beneficiary status
  • Understand the Medicare Advantage cost-sharing billing process
  • Be sure your billing software and staff remove QMB patients from Medicare Advantage cost-sharing billing and related collections efforts

¿Tiene preguntas?

Call Customer Service at 1-877-774-8592 to learn more about QMB procedures and ways to identify QMB patients. For more details about QMB, see the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sitio web Más información sobre enlaces de terceros.

Más información sobre enlaces de terceros Al hacer clic en este enlace, irá a un nuevo sitio web o a una aplicación ("sitio"). El sitio al que está por acceder podría ser administrado por un proveedor o un tercero. El sitio también podría proporcionarle información no relacionada con Medicare. Además, algunos sitios podrían solicitarle que acepte sus propios términos de uso y políticas de privacidad.

The information provided here is only intended to be a summary of the law that has been enacted and is not intended to be an exhaustive description of the law or a legal opinion of such law. If you have any questions regarding the law mentioned here, you should consult with your legal advisor.