PECOS - Are you Enrolled?

IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT MEDICARE ENROLLMENT AND PECOS:
PROVIDERS BE WARNED.....

Since last October, CMS has been recommending that offices check to make sure that their providers are enrolled in PECOS. The date for PECOS enrollment has been moved several times, with the last date, by printed document from CMS, being January 3, 2011.

I am writing to WARN Iowa Providers that there is rumbling going on at CMS indicating that the PECOS compliance date may be moved forward to July 6, 2010.

This information was presented on a CMS teleconference last week, however, the presenters were not quite clear about the new rules and kept referring those asking questions to consult the Federal Register....where clarity doesn’t necessarily prevail.

Bottom line.....if you have a provider that has no enrollment activity since November of 2003, address change, name change, change in work history, change in employment, etc. then that provider is most likely NOT in the PECOS system. If you have had activity, you should call and check just to be safe!

You can call the WPS enrollment hotline to verify if your provider is or isn’t in PECOS. The number is 866-503-7664. Callers will have to provide one of the following: Provider PTAN, Social Security Number, or Federal Tax ID number.

If your provider is enrolled in PECOS – perfect – you’re done.
If your provider is NOT enrolled in PECOS, ask the enrollment specialist what needs to be done. Keep in mind that enrollment takes a minimum of 30 and 60 days to process, so don’t delay.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AND REGARDLESS OF THE NEW COMPLIANCE DATE – DO IT TODAY!