Medicare implemented a contingency plan two years ago that allowed providers and other electronic billers to continue sending pre-HIPPA format electronic claims. As of June 2005, more than 99.5% of submitted claims Medicare receives each month are in the compliant format. Based on this progress, CMS will end the contingency plan for incoming claims. Effective October 1, 2005, any electronic claim that is in a non-HIPAA compliant format will be rejected on the front-end. A message will be sent indicating that the claim was rejected and for the reason listed above.