CMS Selects Palmetto GBA to Administer Medicare Program in F...( COLUMBIA S.C. Jan. 9 -- Palmetto GBA...),Health

COLUMBIA, S.C., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Palmetto GBA, a leading provider of technical and administrative services for the federal government, has been selected by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to process and pay all fee-for-service Medicare claims and perform related duties for South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

After a full and open competitive process, CMS awarded Palmetto GBA a contract with a base period of one year and four one-year options to serve as the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for those states, known as MAC Jurisdiction 11. The contract has a potential value of approximately $300 million. As the MAC, Palmetto GBA will process and pay claims for both Parts A and B of the Medicare benefit program.

The contract also calls for Palmetto GBA to continue processing and paying Medicare claims from home health agencies and hospices in 16 states.

Nearly 600 full-time employees, most working from Palmetto GBA's headquarters in Columbia, S.C., will support the contract. All jobs are expected to be filled by current employees of Palmetto GBA, which under previous contracts processes all Medicare claims in South Carolina, as well as Part A claims in North Carolina and Part B claims in West Virginia.

Palmetto GBA will begin implementation activities immediately, conducting extensive outreach to health care providers, state medical associations and beneficiaries in Jurisdiction 11 to provide education and information about the transition. It will assume full responsibility for all fee-for-service claims in Jurisdiction 11 no later than March 2010.

Over the past three years, CMS selected 15 MACs nationwide to process claims for both Parts A and B of Medicare. The MACs are replacing fiscal intermediaries, which currently process Part A claims, and carriers, which currently process Part B claims. Medica
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