Palmetto Inundated with Calls about Medicare Part B Transition for Northern and Southern California

Date:   09/19/2008

We are now two weeks into the transition of the administration of Medicare Part B from NHIC to Palmetto GBA. Palmetto has informed CMA that its phone lines are overwhelmed and people are having a hard time getting through. According to Palmetto, the answers to the majority of callers’ questions are readily available on the website. Physicians and their staff are urged to check the FAQ on the Palmetto website before calling so that the phone lines are freed up for those with urgent payment issues.

CMA has been in close contact with Palmetto during this transition and continues to have weekly calls to discuss physician concerns. Because physicians have complained of busy signals and long wait times when calling Palmetto, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has authorized Palmetto to hire 35 additional call center staff and add more telephone lines. In a few weeks, after these new staff are hired and trained, you should experience significantly less hold time and get fewer busy signals

Provider Action:

To check the status of a claim, call Palmetto’s Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system at
866-931-3903. if you have questions about the IVR, please click on the link below.

http://www.palmettogba.com/J1B