National Uniform Claim Committee
Meeting Minutes for February 27, 2014
Summary by Barbara Rudolph, PhD, NAHDO Consultant
The National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC) in-person meeting was called to order on the morning of February 27th, by Ms. Spector, NUCC Chair. A quorum was not present. Approval of minutes was delayed due to absence of a quorum. A report from the Coding Subcommittee was provided by Ms. Spector. Ms. Spector also reviewed reports from the Data/1500 Form Subcommittees. A discussion was held on ICD-10 Status, and then New Business was conducted, including: the July Meeting, New Version of the X12 transactions, and the HPID.
I. Code Subcommittee Report: Peer Specialist Code Request
a. Ms. Spector indicated that there was a request for a code for Peer Specialist from the Veterans Health Administration. The request indicated that there is Medicaid reimbursement and recognition of these providers by various states. Marc Leib of NAMD was included in the review of the request and provided input on the states’ recognition of the provider type. The subcommittee approved the request. The VHA provided a lengthy definition for Peer Specialist. The subcommittee drafted a definition that is briefer and aligns with the language of other Health Care Provider Taxonomy code definitions. The VHA approved of the modified definition.
b. An email vote will be taken for this item.
II. Data/1500 Subcommittee Report: Instruction Manual Update
a. Ms. Spector provided an overview of the Data/1500 Subcommittee Report. There was an error in the instructions for Item Number 20. The instructions are correct in stating that the dollars and cents are reported in the area to the left of the vertical lining. The field specifications were incorrect in stating that the two characters can be reported to the right of the vertical line. There was agreement to go ahead and conduct an email vote on this item.
b. Ms. Spector indicated that other requests were brought forward, but not approved. The current instructions were deemed to be sufficient. An explanation was provided to the requestors.
III. 02/12 1500 Form
a. Transition Status—Ms. Spector indicated that she has not received a notice of any problems with the transition to the 1500 form. None of the committee was aware of any problems either. Ms. Sikora of CMS also stated that CMS would be going ahead with use of the report, and not delaying the implementation date. She also stated that CMS maintained the instructions for the use of the 1500, with the exception for qualifiers for supervision, physician, and diagnosis codes.
b. NUCC Data Set—The NUCC Data Set needs to be updated for the new 1500 form and the version 0051 837P (See NUCC website for a crosswalk of 1500 to the 5010. URL: http://www.nucc.org/images/stories/PDF/1500_form_map_to_837p_5010_v2-0_112011.pdf). Ms. Spector explained that the Data Set is a listing of the 837P data elements with notations of where the data is reported on the 1500 form. Following the update, the Data/1500 Subcommittee and the NUCC will review and approve. Ms. Spector will work with the X12 representatives on the necessary edits.
IV. ICD-10 Status (pre-legislation changing the date of implementation)
a. Ms. Spector asked the committee about their readiness for ICD-10 and what they are hearing in the industry. There was also a brief discussion on the upcoming testing by Medicare and overall need to be prepared for the deadline. (Note: this discussion took place before the legislation moved the implementation date for ICD-10.)
V. New Business
a. Change in July Meeting—Ms. Spector asked the Committee about changing the length of the meeting, and shortening it so it would not span three days. The committee had no concerns about this. Ms. Spector will work with Mr. Arges and Mr. Osmundson from the NUBC to get their feedback as well.
b. New Version of X12 Transactions—A new version for 6020 has been completed and published, but was not yet brought forward for adoption. Ms. Burckhardt reported that the next version has not been named yet, although it is anticipated to be brought forward for adoption. The X12 Management Team is currently reviewing the data maintenance items for the next TR3 to determine which items are critical and whether or not a change is necessary in the underlying standard.
c. HPID—Ms. Sikora asked about when the X12 errata accommodating HPID is expected to be published. Ms. Burckhardt reported that the X12 workgroup has made additional changes to the HPID/OEID requirements in the TR3s. The errata documents will be released in April for a second round of public comments. An information forum will be held at the June X12 meeting on the public comments. The plan is to then publish the documents. Ms. Burckhardt indicated that the transactions are more agnostic, they state how to report payer ID and HPID, but they do not address when an HPID is reported. This topic will be added to the July meeting agenda. There was then discussion about overall concerns about HPID and how it is being implemented. It was mentioned that the database will not be made available to the public. Ms. Spector reported that the AMA spearheaded a call with stakeholders to discuss issues related to the HPID. The outcome of the call was that WEDI will be drafting a letter to send to CMS and the various interested organizations will have the option to sign onto the letter.
Note to State Data Agencies—the lack of a database for HPID, may cause some problems in developing edits for the HPID field.
VI. The Meeting was adjourned at 10:29 Eastern Time on Thursday, February 27, 2014.