CMS confirms MSP reporting for HRAs IS required
12/24/2008
Notwithstanding ECFC efforts to delay or eliminate the mandatory MSP reporting obligation for HRAs there is bad news on the CMS mandatory Medicare Secondary Plan (MSP) reporting front.
Even though the ECFC is targeting a more detailed bulletin on this reporting requirement for release next week, we wanted to make the information available as soon as possible, so for immediate details, click here to see the CMS release.
Brief Summary of Area of Impact:
Version 2.0 of the CMS GHP User Guide contains the following statements.
A Flexible Savings Account (FSA) product is not considered to be Group Health Plan (GHP) coverage for Medicare Secondary Payor (MSP) purposes. Responsible Reporting Entities (RREs) are not required to include FSA programs in Section 111 reporting.
A Health Savings Account (HSA) is typically associated with a high deductible GHP product. Under current law, Medicare beneficiaries may not make further contributions to the savings portion of an HSA, although they retain access to previous contributions, both their own and those made by an employer. The CMS will not consider HSAs to be reportable under Section 111 as long as Medicare beneficiaries may not make a current year contribution to an HSA.
The CMS considers a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) to be a GHP product for MSP purposes. RREs are required to include HRA programs in Section 111 reporting.