One out of every five private payer claims are processed incorrectly by insurance carriers, according to the AMA's 2010 National Health Insurer Report Card, released June 14. The results were based on the AMA's benchmarks of seven major private insurers: Aetna, Anthem BCBS, CIGNA, Coventry, HCSC, Humana and UHG. NOTE: The AMA's analysis did not include any Medicare or Medicaid contractors (read the full post for a breakdown of error rates by insurer).

CMS will hold claims for an extra three days after President Barack Obama pleaded with Congress to delay the 21.3% cut to Medicare payments during his weekly presidential address.

"We cannot allow this to happen," Obama said on Saturday. "We have to fix this problem so that our doctors can get paid for the life-saving services they provide and keep their doors open. We have to fix this problem to keep the promise of Medicare for our seniors so that they get the health care they deserve.  So I urge Republicans in the Senate to at least allow a majority of Senators and Congressmen to stop this pay cut.  I urge them to stand with America's seniors and America's doctors."

The Obama administration followed the president's remarks by buying lawmakers extra time to pass a fix.

more on Medicare pay fix

Medicare providers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia won't have to worry about a disrupting Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) transition anytime soon. A couple days after Palmetto was awarded the MAC contract to oversee those states in Jurisdiction 11, a protest was filed against the award.

The protest was filed by Cigna Government Services, the carrier for North Carolina. Palmetto is currently the carrier for South Carolina and West Virginia and Trailblazer oversees Virginia. A decision on the protest should come down by Sept. 9, according to the Government Accountability Office.

So, now we're back up to six MAC jurisdictions being held up by protests.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office says the Senate won't vote on the tax extenders bill containing the Medicare payment fix today, tomorrow or Monday, June 14. This means the scheduled 21.3% cut to Medicare payments will go through, after a 10-day claims hold, on the 14th.

The earliest the bill could be approved is Tuesday, a Reid spokesman says. I've heard Reid say on the floor via CSPAN that Senators will be visiting their districts on Friday and Monday, so no votes are scheduled.

Medicare Administrative Contractors can start processing clean electronic claims with a dates of service of June 1 (that were submitted on June 1) with the reduced reimbursement rate on Tuesday.

Who knows when Congress will get around to taking a vote. One Medicare consultant I've talked to suggested that providers hold claims until this pay fix mess is sorted out.

CMS has quietly updated its Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) Authorization Agreement form for the second time this year. Medicare providers and credentialers are advised to delete or throw out any old CMS-588 forms in the office.

You can identify the new form by locating "FORM CMS-588 (05/10)" in the bottom left hand corner of the document. The only other noticeable difference is a date box next to the signature box on the second page of the form.

It's recommended that you not keep extra copies of the CMS-588 form in your office or a copy of the file on your computer, but download CMS forms when you need them. This ensures you're using the latest version of a CMS form.