Transitioning the Medigap

During the period from June through September 2007, CMSÕ Coordination of Benefits Contractor (COBC) will sign national crossover agreements with Medigap claim-based crossover insurers and will assign new 5-digit Coordination of Benefits (COBA) Medigap claim-based crossover identifiers to these entities for inclusion on incoming Medicare claims.

October 1, 2007 is the effective date for completing the transition of the Medigap crossover process to the COBC.

Be aware that during the transition period from June through September 2007 the COBC will assign new 5-byte claim-based Coordination of Benefits Agreement (COBA) IDs to the Medigap insurers on a graduated basis throughout the three month period prior to the actual transition. Until CMSÕ COBC assigns a new 5-digit COBA Medigap claim-based ID to a Medigap insurer, Medicare will continue to accept the older contractor-assigned OCNA or N-key identifiers for purposes of initiating Medigap claim-based crossovers. During June through September 2007, the affected contractors will also continue to cross claims over as normal to their Medigap claim-based crossover recipients. CMS will be regularly apprising the affected Medicare contractors when the COBC has assigned new COBA Medigap claim-based IDs to the Medigap insurers and will post this information on its COB web site so that contractors may direct providers to that link for purposes of obtaining regular updates.