Top Five Reasons for Denials as tracked by PalmettoGBA

PalmettoGBA lists the following five items as their top reasons for a denial:

  • “Noncovered services” – these services are never covered, including eye refraction, “well person” exams, and hot/cold packs used in physical therapy.

  • Bundling due to “Correct Coding Initiative “ –services denied most often for these reasons include: pulse oximetry; heparin; creatinine (blood); and some supplies

  • Medicare is secondary, but the claim was submitted as primary. The MSP Lookup Tool can help guide you as to whether another insurer may be involved.

  • Noncovered services by a chiropractor – the only service Medicare will reimburse, when performed by a chiropractor, is manual manipulation of the spine (CPT codes 98940, 98941, and 98942). Physical therapy and x-rays performed by chiropractors are never covered by Medicare.

  • Pre- and post-op visits are included in the global surgery package. Tip: access the CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Database (MPFSDB) to determine the global period for surgical procedures. The Palmetto GBA Modifier Lookup tool provides step-by-step instructions for accessing the MPFSDB as well as guidance on how to submit “exceptions” to the global surgery package.

Use the Denial Finder to determine whether your denials for these services are correct or whether there are other steps you should take before submitting these claims - look in the “Cool Tools” section on the site below:

Ohio: http://www.PalmettoGBA.com/boh