At a Glance

Downward Trend for MSA Processing Times

MSA-Research-14BThe federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reduced the amount of time it takes to process Medicare Set-Asides following a dramatic lengthening, new research shows.

The research from NCCI Holdings Inc. also revealed, among other findings, that the gap between the average amount of funds submitted for an MSA and the amount approved by CMS has been shrinking.

“On the other hand, there has been an upward trend in the average submitted MSA since 2011,” NCCI reported in its September 2014 Research Brief.

MSAs are funds provided to pay for work-injury related medical costs. The funds are set aside to help assure Medicare will not pay for the future medical care of workers’ comp claimants. NCCI’s findings are based on data provided by Gould & Lamb, a  Medicare secondary payer and compliance service provider.

The graphic above shows how the processing times for MSAs, or the number of days from an MSA’s submission to receipt of a determination letter, has decreased after dramatically lengthening.

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