March 13, 2017
Interest Payment on Claims
The Provider Contact Center has received telephone calls from providers asking why they received an interest payment on their remittance advice. According to the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, (Pub 100-04, Ch. 1, §80.2.2), interest is paid on clean claims if payment is not made within 30 days after the date of receipt. The interest rate is determined by the Treasury Department on a 6-month basis, effective every January and July 1. Effective, January 1, 2017, the interest amount is 2.500%. Refer to Pub 100-04, Ch. 1, §80.2 for the definition of a clean claim.
Note: Interest is not paid on home health request for anticipated payment (RAP) types of bill.
The following provides information about how you can determine if your claim received an interest payment. The interest amount will display in the Fiscal Intermediary Standard System (FISS) via Direct Data Entry (DDE), standard paper remittance (SPR) and the electronic remittance advice (ERA)
FISS DDE Claim Page 01
- Value Code 70 will display the interest amount paid on your claim.
FISS DDE Claim page 06
- The PROVIDER INTEREST field will display the interest amount paid on your claim.
ERA
- Medicare providers using the PC-Print software to view and print the ERA can find the interest amount paid on an individual claim by reviewing the Single Claim (SC) screen (see below). For more information about the ERA, refer to the CGS Interactive Medicare Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA) Web page. If you use another type of software, we suggest contacting your vendor for assistance.
SPR
- If you receive a SPRA, the interest amount paid for an individual claim appears on the All Claims (AC) page (see below). For more information about the SPRA, refer to the CGS Interactive Medicare Standard Paper Remittance (SPR) Advice Web page.
For additional information about when interest is paid on a claim, and how to calculate the interest, refer to the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, (Pub 100-04, Ch. 1., §80.2.2) on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website. Current and past interest rate amounts can be viewed on the Treasury Department website.