Verisk Analytics : Government Shutdown Ends – Congress and President Reach Deal

In an update to our blog article posted yesterday, the government shutdown has ended. Late yesterday, a bipartisan stop gap spending bill passed in the Senate 81-18, and in the House of Representatives 266-150. President Trump then signed the measure into law last evening. The bill funds the government through February 8^th with a commitment to continue negotiations on spending matters and immigration. If a wider agreement is not reached by the 8^th, the Senate would address legislation on certain immigration issues so long as the government remains open.

This brief shutdown did not affect Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) operations, as they are essential and considered part of the Medicare Integrity Program. Thus, operations at the applicable MSP contractors (whose funds have been budgeted), including the WCRC, CRC and BCRC continued as normal during the shutdown.

However, as reported yesterday, the shutdown was starting to impact the Social Security Administration's ability to fulfill benefits verifications with several SSA offices indicating that they would not be able to provide these status requests. With the shutdown ended, it is expected that the SSA will return to normal operations in due course.

If you have any questions, contact Shawn Deane, vice president of Product Development via phone at [phone], or email at [e-mail], or Mark Popolizio, vice president of MSP Compliance, via phone at [phone], or email at [e-mail].

Mark Popolizio is the Vice President of MSP Compliance and Policy for ISO Claims Partners. Mark's area of specialty is Medicare secondary payer compliance. He authors regular articles and provides educational presentations across the country on MSP issues. Mark's e-mail address is [e-mail].