cms 1500 forms

Some of the new CMS 1500 Forms were printed incorrectly and have caused the delay in the deadline that was imposed for using the new forms. The CMS 1500 forms replace the long lived HCFA 1500 forms. It is extremely important to make sure the forms you have are the correct format and will print properly.

You can easily identify whether your forms will print correctly by looking at the top right corner. There is a small arrow pointing up at the top. It should be located approximately ¼” below the top not at the top edge.

If the forms you have are printed with the arrow touching the top of the page, you should contact the vendor you purchased them from and ask what they are doing about these forms.

Originally April 1, 2007 was the deadline for using the old HCFA 1500 (12/90) forms. After that date the medical providers were to use only the new CMS 1500 (08/05) version which allowed for reporting the NPI number when billing medical insurance claims.

The CMS now states that they are targeting June 1, 2007 as the cutoff date for the old forms. From June 2 on all medical insurance claims must be filed on the new CMS 1500 format. Also keep in mind that even though the deadline for using the CMS has been extended to June 1st, the NPI number must be on the claim forms (no matter which one you use!) by May 23rd.

Meanwhile any CMS 1500 forms that are not printed to specification such as offline or outside the correct boxes will be returned to the provider instead of being processed. Check to make sure you have the correctly printed forms and that you are capable of printing them accurately.