Medicare Contracting Reform

On May 06, 2008, CMS announced it has awarded the contract for the Jurisdiction 2 (J2) A/B MAC to National Heritage Insurance Corporation (NHIC). J2 includes the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. On May 27, 2008, a protest against the award was filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO’s decision on the protest must be issued no later than 100 days after the protest was filed. In this case, the deadline for the GAO decision on the protest is September 2, 2008. In accordance with the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA), the filing of the protest triggered an automatic stay on performance of the NHIC contract pending GAO’s decision.

On June 11, 2008, CMS announced it has awarded the contract for Jurisdiction 7 (J7) A/B MAC to Pinnacle Business Solutions Inc. (PBSI). PBSI will be responsible for the workload in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. As the J7 A/B MAC, PBSI will immediately begin implementation activities and will assume full responsibility for the work no later than February 2009.