For planned and unplanned transitions between care settings — for example, home to hospital, or hospital to skilled nursing care — the referring provider is expected to:

• Share the care plan with the receiving setting within one business day of notification of the transition
• Inform the member (or the member’s responsible party) of the care transition process, and about changes to their health status and plan of care

Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries Program

Federal law bars Medicare providers from collecting Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B beneficiary deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments from those enrolled in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMB) Program. QMB is a dual-eligible program that exempts individuals from Medicare cost-sharing liability (see Section 1902(n)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act, as modified by 4714 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997). Balance billing prohibitions also may apply to other dual-eligible beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans if the state Medicaid program holds these individuals harmless for Part A and Part B cost-sharing.

Non-Discrimination Policies

In addition, MA enrollees cannot be discriminated against in the delivery of health care services consistent with the benefits covered in their policy based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, or source of payment.

Discrimination based on “source of payment” means, for example, that MA providers cannot refuse to serve enrollees because they receive assistance with Medicare cost-sharing from a state Medicaid program.

Dual Eligibility

Members who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid (dually eligible) may have certain services covered by the Medicaid programs. To find out which benefits are covered by the member’s Medicaid benefit, please call Provider Service at 800-950-0051.