Changes to Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) provisions--HCFA. Notice.

This notice describes how subsections 6202(b), (c), and (e) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (Pub. L. 101-239) affect the Medicare Program These subsections: Create uniform rules for computing Medicare secondary payments for all MSP situations; Exempt from the MSP provisions services performed for a religious order by members of the order who take a vow of poverty; Prohibit group health plans (GHPs) from "taking into account" that an individual is entitled to Medicare when Medicare is the secondary payer; Prohibit GHPs from differentiating, in the services they provide, between individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and other individuals covered by the plan; Require that GHPs of employers of 20 or more employees provide the same benefits under the same conditions to employees age 65 or older and employees' spouses age 65 or older as they provide to employees and spouses under age 65; Impose a 25 percent excise tax on contributions that employers and employee organizations make to nonconforming GHPs, i.e., plans that do not comply with the MSP provisions; Extend to all MSP situations the Federal Government's right to take legal action to collect double damages if a primary plan fails to comply with the Medicare secondary payment requirements of the law; Make the provisions for special enrollment periods for the disabled parallel to those in effect for the working aged. The statutory changes made by subsections 6202(b), (c), and (e) can be put into effect without first issuing regulations because it is clear on the face of the statute what the Congress intended.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)