Notice of Election (NOE)

20.1.1 - Notice of Election (NOE) (Rev. 12847; Issued: 09-13-24; Effective: 06-03-24; Implementation: 10-07-24) When a Medicare beneficiary elects hospice services, hospices must complete the data elements identified below for the Uniform (Institutional Provider) Bill (Form CMS-1450) or its electronic equivalent, which is a Notice of Election (NOE). Timely-filed hospice NOEs shall be filed within 5 calendar days after the hospice admission date. A timely-filed NOE is a NOE that is submitted to the A/B MAC (HHH) and accepted by the A/B MAC (HHH) within 5 calendar days after the hospice admission date. While a timely-filed NOE is one that is submitted to and accepted by the Medicare contractor A/B MAC (HHH) within 5 calendar days after the hospice election, posting to the CWF may not occur within that same time frame. The date of posting to the CWF is not a reflection of whether the NOE is considered timely filed. In instances where a NOE is not timely-filed, Medicare shall not cover and pay for the days of hospice care from the hospice admission date to the date the NOE is submitted to, and accepted by, the A/B MAC (HHH). These days shall be a provider liability, and the provider shall not bill the beneficiary for them. The hospice shall report these non-covered days on the claim with an occurrence span code 77, and charges for all claim lines reporting these days shall be reported as non-covered, or the claim will be returned to the provider. If a hospice fails to file a timely-filed NOE, it may request an exception which, if approved, waives the consequences of filing a NOE late. The four circumstances that may qualify the hospice for an exception to the consequences of filing the NOE more than 5 calendar days after the hospice admission date are as follows: 1. fires, floods, earthquakes, or other unusual events that inflict extensive damage to the hospice’s ability to operate; 2. an event that produces a data filing problem due to a CMS or A/B MAC (HHH) systems issue that is beyond the control of the hospice; 3. a newly Medicare-certified hospice that is notified of that certification after the Medicare certification date, or which is awaiting its user ID from its A/B MAC (HHH); or, 4. other circumstances determined by the A/B MAC (HHH) or CMS to be beyond the control of the hospice. If one of the four circumstances described above prevents a hospice from filing a timely- filed NOE, the hospice may request an exception which, if approved, would waive the consequences of filing the NOE late. When an NOE is submitted within the five day timely filing period, but the NOE contains inadvertent errors (such as a beneficiary identifier that has recently changed), the error does not trigger the NOE to be immediately returned to the hospice for correction. In these instances, the hospice must wait until the incorrect information is fully processed by Medicare systems before the NOE is returned to the hospice for correction. There are other NOE errors, such as an incorrect admission date, that will not be returned for correction and instead must be finalized and posted by the Medicare systems before the hospice can correct the NOE. Only the hospice is aware of the error. Such delays in Medicare systems could cause the NOE to be late. Delays due to Medicare system constraints are outside the control of the hospice and may qualify for an exception to the timely filing requirement. Hospices can reduce the number of errors and exception requests related changes to the beneficiary identifier by performing an eligibility check immediately before admission. This can confirm that the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) is active and accurate since the eligibility inquiry system contains an MBI End Date field. If there is a date in that field, the MBI is not valid after that date. The hospice can contact the beneficiary or use the MBI Lookup tool to determine the current MBI to use on the NOE. Since correct beneficiary identifier information is available to the hospice, only changes that occur shortly before the admission are beyond the hospice control. A/B MAC (HHH) MACs will not grant exceptions based on MBI changes that were accessible to the hospice more than two weeks prior to the admission date. Medicare contractors shall grant an exception for the late NOE if the hospice is able to provide documentation showing: (1) When the original NOE was submitted; (2) When the NOE was returned to the hospice for correction or was accepted and available for correction and; (3) Evidence the hospice resubmitted the returned NOE within two business days of when it was available for correction or cancelled an accepted NOE within two business days and submitted the new NOE within two business days after the date that the cancellation NOE finalized. The hospice shall provide sufficient information in the Remarks section of its claim to allow the contractor to research the case. If the remarks are not sufficient, Medicare contractors shall request documentation. Documentation should consist of printouts or screen images of any Medicare systems screens that contain the information shown above. Medicare contractors shall not grant exceptions if: • the hospice can correct the NOE without waiting for Medicare systems actions, • the hospice submits a partial NOE to fulfill the timely-filing requirement, or, • hospices with multiple provider identifiers submit the identifier of a location that did not actually provide the service. In the great majority of cases, the five day timely filing period allows enough time to submit NOEs on a day when Medicare systems are available (i.e. the period allows for ("dark days"). Additionally, the receipt date is typically applied to the NOE immediately upon submission to Medicare systems, so subsequent dark days would not affect the determination of timeliness. However, if the hospice can provide documentation showing an NOE is submitted on the day before a dark day period and the NOE does not receive a receipt date until the day following the dark days, the contractor shall grant an exception to the timely filing requirement. CMS expects these cases to be very rare. Hospices must send the NOE to the A/B MAC (HHH) by mail, electronic data interchange (EDI), or direct data entry (DDE) depending upon the arrangements with the A/B MAC (HHH). EDI submissions require additional data not required by the NOE itself, to satisfy transaction standards. This data is described in a companion guide available on the CMS website at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service- Payment/Hospice/index.html. Hospices may voluntarily agree to adopt the companion guide and use it to submit EDI NOEs at any time. If a patient enters hospice care before the month he/she becomes entitled to Medicare benefits, e.g., before age 65, the hospice should not send the NOE before the first day of the month in which he/she becomes 65. Hospices complete the following data elements when submitting an NOE. Provider Name, Address, and Telephone Number The minimum entry for this item is the provider’s name, city, State, and ZIP code. The post office box number or street name and number may be included. The State may be abbreviated using standard post office abbreviations. Five or 9-digit ZIP codes are acceptable. Use the information to reconcile provider number discrepancies. Phone and/or FAX numbers are desirable. Type of Bill Enter the appropriate 3-digit numeric type of bill code, according to the following code structure: 81A - Hospice (Non-hospital Based) Initial Election Notice 82A - Hospice (Hospital Based) Initial Election Notice Statement Covers Period (From-Through) The hospice enters the From date of this hospice election. A Through date is not required on NOEs. Patient’s Name The patient’s name is shown with the surname first, first name, and middle initial, if any. Patient’s Address The patient’s full mailing address including street name and number, post office box number or RFD, city, State, and ZIP code. Patient’s Birth Date Show the month, day, and year of birth numerically as MM-DD-YYYY. Patient’s Sex Show an “M” for male or an “F” for female. This item is used in conjunction with diagnoses and surgical procedures to identify inconsistencies. Admission Date The hospice enters the admission date, which must be the start date of the benefit period. When a new hospice admission occurs after a hospice revocation or discharge that resulted in termination of the hospice benefit, the new admission date cannot be the same as the revocation or discharge date of the previous benefit period. The date of admission may not precede the physician’s certification by more than 2 calendar days, and is the same as the certification date if the certification is not completed on time. EXAMPLE The hospice election date (admission) is 01/01/XX. The physician’s certification is dated 01/03/XX. The hospice date for coverage and billing is 01/01/XX. The first hospice benefit period ends 90 days from 01/01/XX. Show the month, day, and year numerically as MM-DD-YY. Condition Codes Condition codes are not required on an original NOE. If the hospice is correcting an election date using occurrence code 56, the hospice reports condition code D0. If the two codes are not reported together, the NOE will be returned to the hospice. Occurrence Codes and Dates The hospice reports occurrence code 27 and the date of certification. This date must match the From Date and Admission Date. Hospices may submit an NOE that corrects an election date previously submitted in error. In this case, the hospice reports the correct election date in the From Date, Admission Date and occurrence code 27 fields and reports the original, incorrect election date using occurrence code 56. Medicare systems use the original, incorrect date to find the election record to be corrected, then replaces that election date with the corrected information. Release of Information Valid values are: I- Informed consent to release medical information for condition or diagnoses regulated by Federal Statutes Y - Yes, provider has a signed statement permitting release of information. Provider Number The hospice enters their NPI. Insured’s Name Send all NOEs with Medicare as the primary payer. Enter the beneficiary’s name on line A. Show the name exactly as it appears on the beneficiary’s HI card. Insured’s Unique Identifier On the same lettered line (A, B, or C) that corresponds to the line on which Medicare payer information is shown enter the patient’s unique identifier by the health plan for the insured. For example, if Medicare is the primary payer, enter the MBI. To ensure accuracy and prevent a delay in the timely receipt or posting the hospice notice of election, hospices should validate this information using the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Eligibility Transaction System (HETS). Only in the event that the HETS data is not available should the hospice show the number as it appears on the patient’s HI Card, Social Security Award Certificate, Utilization Notice, EOMB, Temporary Eligibility Notice, etc., or as reported by the SSO. Principal Diagnosis Code CMS accepts only HIPAA approved ICD-9-CM or ICD-10-CM/ICD-10-PCS codes, depending on the date of service. The official ICD-9-CM codes, which were updated annually through October 1, 2013, are posted at http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD9ProviderDiagnosticCodes/codes.html The official annual updates to ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS codes are posted at http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD10/index.html . Use full diagnosis codes including all applicable digits, up to five digits for ICD-9-CM and up to seven digits for ICD-10-CM. Attending Physician I.D. The hospice enters the name and provider identifier of the attending physician designated by the patient at the time of election as having the most significant role in the determination and delivery of the patient’s medical care. The patient’s designated attending physician could be an independent physician, hospice physician, a nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. If there is no attending physician listed, then the hospice shall report the hospice certifying/recertifying physician. Other Physician I.D. The hospice enters the name and provider identifier of the hospice physician responsible for certifying/recertifying that the patient is terminally ill, with a life expectancy of 6 months or less if the disease runs its normal course. For electronic claims, this information is reported in Loop ID 2310F – Referring Provider Name. NOTE: Both the attending physician and other physician fields should be completed unless the patient’s designated attending physician is the same as the physician certifying/recertifying the terminal illness. When the attending physician is also the physician certifying/recertifying the terminal illness, only the attending physician field is required to be populated, the other physician field would not need to be populated. Provider Representative Signature and Date A hospice representative must make sure the required physician’s certification, and a signed hospice election statement are in the records before signing the Form CMS-1450. A stamped signature is acceptable.