National Government Services is eliminating the direct dial-up options and is requiring the use of [an approved network service vendor] for access to the CEDI Gateway.
Monday, September 13, 2010

ATLANTA — In a Sept. 9 listserv message sent to all of its trading partners, suppliers, billing services, clearinghouses and vendors, NGS, the CEDI contractor, got their attention.

"Please stop and read the following," the message began. "In response to concerns with the security of existing direct dial-up and Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) File Transfer Protocol (FTP) service, National Government Services is eliminating the direct dial-up options and is requiring the use of [an approved network service vendor] for access to the CEDI Gateway.

"Beginning November 1, 2010, all new CEDI Trading Partners being setup with CEDI will be required to connect to the CEDI Gateway via an NSV. As of April 30, 2011, the direct dial-up connections and protocols to the CEDI Gateway will no longer be supported," the message emphasized.

Six NSVs have been approved by NGS, including:

While security concerns are driving the switch, according to consultant Andrea Stark of Columbia, S.C.-based MiraVista, it also could cost HME providers in submitting claims.

"There may soon be an increased cost to submit claims to Medicare," said Stark in a Friday post. "Suppliers, clearinghouses, third party billers and software vendors are currently able to connect and transmit information directly to Medicare via several free modem and FTP network connections."

But she added that on a Sept. 8 vendor call, the CEDI contractor announced that "all direct connections to their gateway will be shut down over the next several months," and all electronic Medicare transactions will need to be transmitted through one of the six selected NSVs.

According to Stark, all new vendors and suppliers who aren't actively submitting claims to CEDI will have go through one of the NSVs or through a clearinghouse that provides this service effective Nov. 1. "All free connections to CEDI will be shut down for everyone else effective April 30, 2011," she said.

Following is further explanation from Stark:

"National Government Services currently operates the Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) contract, which is the entity responsible for the front-end editing of all claims traffic and transactions with the DME MAC contractors. NGS is closing all free modem and FTP connections to the CEDI gateway in order to meet requirements put forth in the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 24 and the Internet Only Manual, Pub 100-17. The six network vendors mentioned above will be the only vendors allowed to transmit data between suppliers and CEDI via secure AT&T Global Network Service (AGNS) lines.

"If you connect directly to the CEDI gateway to upload your claims, retrieve response reports, download Medicare ERNs or send claim status inquiries, you will likely be affected by the upcoming change in service. However, if you are already transmitting claims and other transactions to Medicare through a clearinghouse or one of the network service vendors above, you may not be affected by the transition. Suppliers who are currently using free network connections can expect to pay a per claim fee to a clearinghouse, or pay monthly fees for bandwidth time once the transition takes place.

"It will still be possible to secure a direct line to CEDI by becoming a direct network service vendor, but this option will be cost prohibitive for most. IVANS and McKesson also serve as CMS' authorized AT&T resellers."

View a full article from Stark titled "Costs to Increase for Medicare Clam Submissions; CEDI to Shut Down Free Network Access" posted on the MiraVista website.

To read the full message from CEDI, see www.ngscedi.com/news/newsindex.htm.

View contact information for CEDI's six network vendors.

For questions, contact the National Government Services CEDI Help Desk at ngs.cedihelpdesk@wellpoint.com or 866/311-9184.