Medicare’s Revised ABN

Are You Ready?

The Medicare Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN) may carry the tagline Annoying, But Necessary but this does not mean that providers can ignore it or worse, wing it when it comes to implementing it correctly. Medicare (CMS) has released the revised ABN form. The use of the renewed form with the expiration date of 01/31/2026 will be mandatory on 6/30/23. You may continue to use the ABN form with the expiration date of 6/30/23 until the renewed form (expiration date 01/31/2026) becomes mandatory on 6/30/23.

What are the changes?

There are not any significant changes other than a focus on non-discrimination and accessibility. You will now see a Large Print Version in both English and Spanish. There are a few small changes in the wording on select portions of the template to take into consideration the accessible format. One change that may impact your workflow is the statement “ you may ask to receive a copy.” In the past it was understood that the patient was to receive a copy of the ABN regardless of interest or request from the patient. Now it appears to be optional. The patient may ask to receive a copy rather than automatically receive a copy. Be sure to update your staff on this process.

If you are having difficulty explaining the ABN process to your patients, please check out the KMC University module titled Explaining the ABN to Patients. This contains helpful scripting and video examples of checking in a new patient with a voluntary notice process as well as an established patient who has transitioned to maintenance care. Do not wing it! Fly right by locating these helpful resources.
In the meantime, KMC University’s experts have combed every page of the new information and created the templates you’ll need to make this important, required transition. The revised ABN templates can be found in the module titled The Mandatory Advance Beneficiary (ABN) Form under Medicare ABN Templates.

Not a Library Member? Sign up today to access all the revised ABN forms and helpful tools for compliant implementation. Remember, you don’t have to know everything about Medicare; you just have to know someone who does!