CMS Issues Two New Alerts on Valentine’s Day: Reporting Threshold for 2024 and New Life Tables

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two separate alerts on February 14. This first involves the reporting threshold for 2024 and the second is related to the new life tables that CMS will be utilizing for MSA calculations.

CMS Maintains $750 Recovery Threshold

CMS is required to publish an annual threshold for recovery each year. This threshold amount reflects an amount for which CMS will not spend more on collections than a claim is likely to yield.

CMS announced that beginning January 1, 2024, the threshold for physical trauma-based liability insurance settlements will remain at $750. CMS will also maintain the $750 threshold for no-fault insurance and workers’ compensation settlements, where the no-fault insurer or workers’ compensation entity does not otherwise have ongoing responsibly for medicals.

This means that settlements of $750 or less do not need to be reported and Medicare’s conditional payment amount related to these cases does not need to be repaid.

Links to the alert and the threshold methodology are posted on the Non-Group Health Plan Recovery page of cms.gov.

CMS to Begin Using 2021 Life Tables

CMS also issued a separate alert stating that as of February 24, 2024, it will utilize the CDC’s Table 1: Life Table for the total population: United States, 2021 for Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set Aside life expectancy calculations. The 2021 Life Tables can be found in the National Vital Statistics Reports Volume 72, Number 12 November 7, 2023 United States Life Tables, 2021 (cdc.gov).

Please note: IMPAXX will be utilizing this new table for MSAs starting February 24 as well.

If you have any questions regarding CMS’ $750 threshold or Medicare Set-Asides and the different types of MSA options, please contact us at [email protected].