CMS has announced that the 2012 application fee for institutional providers (excluding physicians and nonphysician practitioners) enrolling in Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) will be $523 – up from $505 in 2011. CMS uses a broad definition of institutional entities subject to the application fee; it applies to “any provider or supplier that submits a paper Medicare enrollment application using the CMS-855A, CMS-855B (not including physician and non-physician practitioner organizations), CMS-855S or associated Internet-based PECOS enrollment application.” As authorized under CMS’s February 2011 final Medicare/Medicaid/CHIP provider screening rule, institutional providers must pay the application fee when initially enrolling in the Medicare or Medicaid programs or CHIP; revalidating their Medicare, Medicaid or CHIP enrollment; or adding a new Medicare practice location (unless a hardship exemption applies).
