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<strong>CMS</strong>-1403-FC<br />

facilitate the enrollment of all providers and suppliers<br />

seeking to enroll in the Medicare program for the first<br />

time; and (3) expand on existing efforts to process changes<br />

in a timely manner and provide better customer service.<br />

Comment: Several commenters stated that our proposal<br />

to deny additional billing privileges to a physician or an<br />

NPP when the physician or NPP is suspended or <strong>has</strong> an<br />

outstanding overpayment is a denial of due process and is<br />

in conflict with the principle of innocent until proven<br />

guilty.<br />

Response: We believe that we have an obligation to<br />

protect the Medicare program from inappropriate payments.<br />

Conversely, physicians and NPPs have an obligation to the<br />

Medicare program to resolve payment suspensions and<br />

overpayment actions in a timely manner. Finally, as a<br />

payer of health care, we believe that additional billing<br />

privileges should not be conveyed to a physician, NPP or<br />

owners, authorized and delegated officials who have an<br />

existing payment suspension or overpayment. To grant<br />

additional billing privileges to individuals with an<br />

existing payment suspension or overpayment exposes the<br />

Medicare Trust Funds to additional risks.<br />

With Medicare’s implementation of the NPI on<br />

May 23, 2008, Medicare contractors no longer issue billing<br />

285

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