09/03/2013    Howard R. Fox, DPM

Moving and Insurance Companies

Every insurance company has its own policy
regarding documentation needed to update your
new address, but they will all want a new W-9
with your new address. Stay very organized about
this by creating a file for each company. Even
companies you have no participation agreement
with will need to be notified, since they will
either be involved with Medicare crossover
claims or reimbursement to your patient, which
will be delayed if they do not have an accurate
address for you.

Start by calling the professional relations
representatives for each company to find out
what their procedure is. Be forewarned, I have
found some insurance companies will
not “replace” your old address with your new
one, but rather ADD a new address to their
profiles and make your old address “inactive.”
This sometimes means a different provider ID
number for certain participating plans (GHI in
particular in the NY area). Make sure you update
your software to reflect any new provider ID
numbers.

Medicare is a completely different animal.
You’ll need to complete the lovely 27 page form
855i (Medicare Enrollment Application) as well
as a new form OMB 0938-0626 to update your bank
account for direct deposits (despite the fact
none of this will probably change, even if
you’re already getting direct deposits).

You’ll need to provide proof of your new address
in the form of a utility bill with your new
address on it before Medicare will start
processing your request. Of course, this won’t
happen until 30 days after you move and that can
really delay things. When you call Verizon to
place the move order for your phones, have them
fax you a statement showing your new address.
Medicare will accept that as a utility bill.

The Medicare process takes about 6 weeks. From
the moment they receive your 855i until the
process is complete, your Medicare payments will
be held, so you’ll want to start with Medicare,
which means first calling the phone company.
Note: you must mail your 855i with the OMB 0938-
0626 to your local Medicare administrative
contractor, not CMS. Send it certified, return
receipt requested.

Medicare’s Customer Service Department can be
reached at 866-837-0241 8-5 PM with an early
closure on Thursdays. It’s been my experience
the folks at this number are remarkably helpful,
patient and kind, and the representative I spoke
with gave me her personal direct number and
always answered it personally on the first few
rings. You can call them to make sure they
received your application and find out at what
stage things are progressing. I have to say, I
was impressed and surprised at the efficiency.

Changing your address with the post office can
be done on line for $1.00. They need to charge a
credit card $1.00 to verify you are who you say
(to prevent anyone from changing your address
with the post office without your permission).
Do this BEFORE you notify any credit cards of
your new address, otherwise the post office
won’t be able to reconcile you with your current
address to process the order.

Having moved more times in 35 years than anyone
ever really should move, it’s been my experience
sending out mailings to your patients or placing
ads in the newspapers is not worth the expense
if you keep your current phone number.

I strongly recommend you keep your phone number,
even if it means setting up an automatic call
forwarding to a different telephone central
office. I do feel it’s well worth it to
personally visit, or at least personally call
your physician referral sources and provide them
with new business cards.

Finally, Google yourself and update as many
Internet doctor search sites as you can find
with your new address.

Howard R. Fox, DPM, Staten Island, NY,
fox.howard@gmail.com

There are no more messages in this thread.