Medicare Advanced Payment Program

Accelerated and Advanced Payment Program – CMS

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Accelerated and Advance Medicare payments provide emergency funding and addresses cash flow issues based on historical payments when there is disruption in claims submission and/or claims processing. CMS is expanding the program for all Medicare providers throughout the country during the public health emergency related to COVID-19. The payments can be requested by hospitals, doctors, durable medical equipment suppliers and other Medicare Part A and Part B providers and suppliers.

Requests and payments are processed through your designated Medicare Administration Contractor (MAC). Most qualified providers will be able to request up to 100% of the Medicare payment amount for a three-month period. Some hospitals may be able to request amounts for a six month period.

Your designated MAC will start accepting and processing the Accelerated/Advance Payment Requests immediately. CMS anticipates that the payments will be issued within seven days of the provider’s request.

Eligibility

To qualify for advance/accelerated payments, the provider must:

1. Have billed Medicare for claims within 180 days immediately prior to the date of the signature on the providers request form,
2. Not be in bankruptcy
3. Not be under active medical review or program integrity investigation, and
4. Not have any outstanding delinquent Medicare overpayments.

Amount of Payment

Qualified providers will be able to request up to 100% of the Medicare payment amount for a three-month period. Some hospitals may be eligible to request payment amounts for up to a six-month period.

Repayment

CMS has extended the repayment of these advanced payments to begin 120 days after the date of issuance of the payment.

Step by step guide through the application and repayment process:

1. Locate your designated Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC).
2. Download the Accelerated/Advance Payment Request form found on your designated MAC’s website.
3. Complete the request form and submit via email or mail. Incomplete forms are NOT reviewed or processed so it is vital that all required information is included with the initial submission. IMPORTANT: Refer to the Accelerated and Advance Payment Fact Sheet for reason request instructions.
4. Complete the Accelerated/Advance Payment Request Form and submit to your designated MAC via mail or email.
5. If approved, payment is issued by MAC within 7 calendar days from the request.
6. At the end of the 120-day period, the recoupment process will begin and every claim submitted by the provider will be offset from the new claims to repay the accelerated/advanced payment. This process is automatic.

Program Q&A as well as information necessary for the request form can be found on the CMS Fact Sheet here: