Revised ABN Form Available for Download
Use of the New Form Encouraged Now, Mandatory as of August 31st

The Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN), Form CMS-R-131, and instructions have been approved by CMS’ Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and are now available for download. The use of the renewed form (with the expiration date of 06/30/2023) will be mandatory on 8/31/2020. The ABN is issued by health care providers to Original Medicare (fee for service) beneficiaries in situations where Medicare payment is expected to be denied. The ABN is issued to transfer potential financial liability to the Medicare beneficiary in certain instances.

With the exception of the expiration date, the form has not changed; however, the ABN instructions have been changed to add language about Medicare/Medicaid dual enrollees. If you are not familiar with the billing prohibitions for Medicare/Medicaid dual-eligible beneficiaries, refer to the MLN Booklet: Dually Eligible Beneficiaries Under Medicare & Medicaid and the QMB Program Billing Requirements FAQs

Guidelines for issuing the ABN can be found beginning in Section 50 in the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, 100-4, Chapter 30 (PDF).

Additional general information on the use of the ABN form is available here.

PPP Loan Application Deadline Extended to August 8th!
Approximately $130 Billion Still Left in Small Business Loan Program

On Saturday, President Trump signed into law a bill that extends the deadline to apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans until August 8, 2020. Prior to the signing of the bill, the deadline was June 30th. Approximately $130 billion remains available in the program.

To find a lender, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Lender Match is an additional resource for pandemic-affected small businesses who have not applied for or received an approved PPP loan to connect with lenders.

On Monday, the SBA, in consultation with the U.S. Department of Treasury, released detailed loan-level data regarding the loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program. Nationally, more then 4.8 million loans totaling more than $521 billion were made. The average loan was $106,772.

An Associated Press analysis of Michigan data shows that approximately 121,000 loans were made to Michigan businesses, about 20,000 of them for $150,000 or more. As of the end of June, Michigan loans totaled almost $16 billion and affected more than 1.5 million jobs, most of them in the full-service restaurant, physician office, religious organization, dentist office, and lawyer office sectors.

Congress is expected to debate the next round of COVID-19 pandemic relief package when they return in late July from their Independence Day state work period.