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NORIDIAN MUTUAL INSURANCE CO. SELECTED TO PROCESS AND PAY MEDICARE CLAIMS IN WASHINGTON STATE AND ALASKA

 

NORIDIAN MUTUAL INSURANCE CO. SELECTED TO PROCESS AND PAY MEDICARE CLAIMS IN WASHINGTON STATE AND ALASKA

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced that Noridian Mutual Insurance Co. will replace Premera Blue Cross as the Medicare claims processing contractor for the states of Washington and Alaska.

 

As a Part A fiscal intermediary under contractor with CMS, Noridian will process claims for hospital care, skilled nursing services and other provider services in Washington and Alaska.

 

Premera informed CMS and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association in March that it was not renewing its Medicare Part A subcontract.   The company said it wanted to focus its core business in areas other than Medicare fee-for-service contracting.  Premera has processed Part A Medicare claims for the states of Washington and Alaska since the inception of the Medicare program in 1966.

 

Noridian will serve about 800,000 beneficiaries in Washington and Alaska.   Under the new contract, the company will process claims for about 177 hospitals, 86 skilled nursing facilities and about 180 other provider services in the two states. 

 

The company has extensive experience in processing Medicare claims as the Part A plan in Minnesota and North Dakota, and as the Part B contractor for 11 states – Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming.

 

The Medicare Modernization Act was instrumental in allowing CMS to select competitively the Part A contractor that offered the best value to the government and service to the beneficiaries and providers in Washington and Alaska.  Noridian, which currently has a Part B presence in Washington, will expand that operation to reflect the business needs of its new Part A contract.  The transition will be completed by Sept. 30, 2004.

 

Health care for seniors, disabled and other Medicare beneficiaries will not be affected by this change. Medicare claims will continue to be paid promptly.