REMINDER: New Medicare ABN Form MUST Be Used Beginning June 30, 2023

The Office of Management and Budget has approved the Medicare Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN), Form CMS-R-131 (ABN), for renewal. The renewed form expires on January 31, 2026. There were no changes to the form, other than this expiration date. Instructions for the form can be found here, and the revised form itself can be found here (including Spanish and large print versions).

You can begin using the revised form at any time, but you MUST begin using the form beginning June 30, 2023, when the previous version expires.

Please note: An ABN form can remain effective for up to one year. If you have patients whose ABN is current, you do not need to immediately have them sign the new form. Rather, use the new ABN moving forward.

According to CMS, the ABN is issued by physicians, providers, and others to fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries “in situations where Medicare payment is expected to be denied. The ABN is issued in order to transfer potential financial liability to the Medicare beneficiary in certain instances. Guidelines for issuing the ABN can be found beginning in Section 50 in the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, 100-4, Chapter 30 (PDF).”