413.178—Bad debts.
(a)
CMS will reimburse each facility its allowable Medicare bad debts, as defined in § 413.89(b), up to the facility's costs, as determined under Medicare principles, in a single lump sum payment at the end of the facility's cost reporting period.
(b)
A facility must attempt to collect deductible and coinsurance amounts owed by beneficiaries before requesting reimbursement from CMS for uncollectible amounts. Section 413.89 specifies the collection efforts facilities must make.
(c)
A facility must request payment for uncollectible deductible and coinsurance amounts owed by beneficiaries by submitting an itemized list that specifically enumerates all uncollectable amounts related to covered services under the composite rate.
(d)
Bad debts arising from covered ESRD services paid under a reasonable charge-based methodology or a fee schedule are not reimbursable under the program.
[62 FR 43668, Aug. 15, 1997, as amended at 70 FR 47489, Aug. 12, 2005; 71 FR 69785, Dec. 1, 2006]