A draft version of X12N's version 005010 269 Health Care Benefit
Coordination Verification Request and Response Implementation Guide,
005010X187, is now available for public review and comment as a key
step in its X12 Type 3 Technical Report (TR3) publication process.

The public comment period for this guide will begin on 7 August 2005 and
will close on Tuesday, 6 September 2005, at 8:00 pm Eastern time.

The purpose of this 269 Implementation Guide is to provide for payer to
payer coordination of benefits (COB) payment verification when a
provider submits secondary health claims.

This is X12's only unconstrained public comment period. The authors of
this guide will consider all comments during and following the public
comment period. For a complete understanding of changes being suggested
and/or made to this guide, reviewers should monitor the on-line
conference during the public comment period and consider all author
responses prior to the Informational Forum. Official authoring work
group responses will be posted to the on-line conference at least 15
days prior to the Informational Forum.

An announcement of the Informational Forum will be made later. The
Informational Forum, held during an X12 Trimester Meeting, probably the
one during the last full week of September, 2005, [see
http://x12.org/x12org/meetings/x12trimt/index.cfm ], is the final X12
opportunity to comment: but generally only on modifications based on
the received public comments. After that, the guide is finalized for
movement through the Insurance Subcommittee (X12N) and X12 publication
approval processes.

The draft implementation guide is available for free download at:
http://www.wpc-edi.com/products/publications/x187 . Comments on the
draft may be submitted by anybody -- X12 member or not -- via the
on-line conference at:
http://www.wpc-edi.com/conferences/healthcare.html .

The Health Care Benefit Coordination Verification Request and Response
Implementation Guide Implementation Guide, 005010X187, is not a
counterpart of any that have been adopted under HIPAA, and no
official discussions regarding any such adoption have been held. A
factor in such discussions, should they be initiated, will be any
comments received. Voluntary use, once this guide is published as a
TR3, is, of course, permissible at any time based on negotiated
agreements between willing trading partners. HIPAA is a floor, not a
ceiling!

Participation in the public comment period for this guide is open to
all who may be interested; whether or not members of Accredited
Standards Committee X12. Please participate -- this is the highest
leverage opportunity for anybody outside of the authors to impact this
document.

Dave Feinberg
Co-chair, HIPAA Implementation Work Group
Insurance Subcommittee (X12N)
Accredited Standards Committee X12
Rensis Corporation [A Consulting Company]
206-617-1717
DAFeinberg@...