The sections of the Social Security Act known as the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) provisions were originally enacted in the early 1980s and have been amended several times, including by the MMSEA Section 111 mandatory reporting requirements.

Medicare has been secondary to workers’ compensation benefits from the inception of the Medicare program in 1965. The liability insurance (including self-insurance) and no-fault insurance MSP provisions were effective December 5, 1980.

Workers’ compensation is a primary payer to the Medicare program for Medicare beneficiaries’ work-related illnesses or injuries. Medicare beneficiaries are required to apply for all applicable workers’ compensation benefits. If a Medicare beneficiary has workers’ compensation coverage, providers, physicians, and other suppliers must bill workers’ compensation first. If responsibility for the workers’ compensation claim is in dispute and workers’ compensation will not pay promptly, the provider, physician, or other supplier may bill Medicare as primary. If the item or service is reimbursable under Medicare rules, Medicare may pay conditionally, subject to later recovery if there is a subsequent settlement, judgment, award, or other payment.

The Benefits Coordination & Recovery Center (BCRC) consolidates the activities that support the collection, management, and reporting of other insurance or workers’ compensation coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. The BCRC updates the CMS systems and databases used in the claims payment and recovery processes.

The BCRC assists in the implementation of MMSEA Section 111 mandatory MSP reporting requirements as part of its responsibilities to collect information to coordinate benefits for Medicare beneficiaries on behalf of CMS.

Section 111 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (MMSEA Section 111) adds mandatory reporting requirements with respect to Medicare beneficiaries who have coverage under group health plan (GHP) arrangements, and for Medicare beneficiaries who receive settlements, judgments, awards or other payment from liability insurance (including self-insurance), no-fault insurance, or workers’ compensation.

Implementation dates were January 1, 2009, for GHP arrangement information and July 1, 2009, for information concerning liability insurance (including self-insurance), no-fault insurance and workers’ compensation.

CMS continues to update and implement the Section 111 requirements. New versions of the Section 111 User Guide will be issued when necessary to document revised requirements, and when additional information has been added for clarity.

On April 5, 2021, CMS published NGHP Section 111 User Guide (Version 6.3).

This Policy Guidance Chapter of the MMSEA Section 111 NGHP User Guide provides an overview of Section 111 related legislation and MSP rules, as well as information describing the policy framework behind the MSP liability insurance (including self-insurance), no-fault insurance and workers’ compensation reporting requirements mandated by Section 111 MMSEA.

The other four chapters of the NGHP User Guide (Introduction and Overview, Registration Procedures, Technical Information, and Appendices) should be referenced as needed, for applicable guidance.