As reported by the National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC) at
www.nucc.org :
_ _ _ _ _ _

"NUCC Extends Recommended Deadline for Implementing 1500 Claim Form
08/05 Version Due to Format Issues

"March 16, 2007

"Chicago, IL - The National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC) is notifying
the health care industry of a recently discovered issue regarding the
formatting of a select number of the revised 1500 Claim Forms (version
08/05). The NUCC was notified that some of the version 08/05 forms were
not scanning correctly. Upon further investigation, it was determined
that an incorrect form negative was supplied to the Government Printing
Office (GPO), which in turn distributed negatives and forms to vendors
and providers. Please note that the format errors occurred with a select
number of forms only and do not involve all version 08/05 forms.

"Following the identification of the formatting issue, Medicare chose to
extend its acceptance period of the current 12/90 version of the 1500
Claim Form beyond the original April 1, 2007 date. Medicare is targeting
June 1, 2007 as the date when all claims will be required to be reported
on the revised 08/05 version of the form.

"The NUCC is also extending its recommended implementation deadline for
the revised 08/05 version of the form. The NUCC is now recommending that
all receivers of the form, i.e., clearinghouses, payers, etc., follow
Medicare's extension for accepting the current 12/90 version of the
form, which is targeted as June 1, 2007. The NUCC is the maintainer of
the 1500 Claim Form.

"The GPO is contacting the purchasers of the incorrectly formatted
negatives and forms to alert them to these issues. If you identify that
you have incorrectly formatted forms, contact your vendor/supplier. If
your version 08/05 forms are properly formatted and you are not aware of
any issues with them scanning, you should continue to use them.

"To identify if a version 08/05 form is properly formatted, look at the
upper right hand corner of the form. On properly formatted claim forms,
there will be approximately a one quarter (¼) inch gap between the tip
of the red arrow above the vertically stacked word "CARRIER" and the top
edge of the paper. If the tip of the red arrow is touching or close to
touching the top edge of the paper, then the form is not printed to
correct specifications. The NUCC will post shortly on its website,
www.nucc.org, a correct format of the form for comparison and
verification of the correct formatting.

"It should be noted that the implementation of the 08/05 version of the
1500 Claim Form is not the same as the implementation of the NPI. There
is no federal regulatory requirement for the NPI to be reported on the
paper claim form. Medicare, as a payer, has made the business decision
to require the NPI be reported on the 08/05 version of the form. Other
payers have made this same decision. Some states have also enacted laws
requiring the reporting of the NPI on the 08/05 version of the form.

"For more information on the 1500 Claim Form, visit the NUCC website at
www.nucc.org or contact Nancy Spector, NUCC Chair, at
nancy.spector@...."

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