NU Online News Service, Oct. 8, 2003, 5:20 p.m. EST – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have exempted flexible spending account debit card transactions from the new federal electronic data interchange requirements.
One section of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act soon will require insurers to accept claims in a standard EDI format.
Congress required EDI standardization in an effort to streamline U.S. health finance administration and encourage U.S. doctors to file more claims electronically.
Evolution Benefits Inc., Avon, Conn., sent CMS a letter asking CMS whether officials would apply the HIPAA EDI standardization requirements to card-based systems for processing employees’ FSA claims.