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Date: June 5, 1995 Contact: HCFA Press Office (202) 690-6145
According to HCFA Administrator Bruce C. Vladeck, who oversees the Medicare program, the company cited business reasons and performance issues for its decision.
Vladeck announced that HCFA is seeking a new contractor with "a strong record of customer service and reliability in bill processing" to assume the Part A fiscal intermediary functions for New Mexico and Colorado.
The home health intermediary workload, currently serviced by New Mexico Blue Cross and Blue Shield, will be assumed by another intermediary. New Mexico BCBS currently serves home health agencies and hospices in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
For the Part A functions, New Mexico BCBS serves as a subcontractor through the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Accordingly, the association will be conducting a competition for the replacement subcontractor for the Part A functions. HCFA will give the remaining eight regional home health intermediaries the opportunity to compete for the home health agency and hospice workloads.
New Mexico BCBS also processes claims for freestanding health clinics. The 11 states in which it handles such claims are Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Intermediaries process Part A claims submitted on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries by hospitals, home health agencies, hospices, skilled nursing facilities and certain other providers of services.
New Mexico BCBS, Medicare's sixth-largest intermediary, paid $3.3 billion in total benefits and processed 4.9 million bills in fiscal year 1994.
"We are pleased that New Mexico Blue Cross and Blue Shield has offered full cooperation to assure a smooth transition to the new contractors," Vladeck said.
"Medicare beneficiaries and providers in all the affected states can be sure there will be no interruption of service. HCFA has extensive experience in making these changes efficiently," he said.
New Mexico BCBS' main operations are located in Albuquerque, N.M., with audit field offices in Denver and Dallas.
The new Part A intermediary will maintain offices in the Albuquerque area. Current employees will have priority for jobs with the new contractor and HCFA expects many will be offered employment opportunities.