Medicare Nation

Welcome Medicare Nation! Today, I will be discussing Advance Beneficiary Notices. An Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN), also known as a waiver of liability is a notice you should receive when a provider or supplier offers you a service or item they believe Medicare will not cover. ABNs only apply if you have Original Medicare, are on a Medicare Supplement Plan. ABNs do not apply if you are in a Medicare Advantage private health plan. If you receive an ABN and you're on a Medicare Advantage Plan, ask to speak to the office manager. Providers must give you an ABN when the service or item could be covered by Medicare, but the provider expects that Medicare will not find the care to be medically necessary and will, therefore, deny coverage. The ABN must list the reason why the provider doubts Medicare will cover care. For example, an ABN might say, “Medicare only pays for this test once every ten years.” That would be the case for a colonoscopy, since Medicare pays for a low-risk colonoscopy once every ten years.