The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, Section 1024, authorizes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to reduce certain federal payments, including Medicare payments, to allow collection of overdue taxes. Should you owe such taxes and your payments are reduced, your remittance advice will reflect a provider level adjustment code (PLB) of “WU” in the PLB03-1 data field. For more information, please see MLN Matters article MM6125 available at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/MM6125.pdf .

Flu season is coming. It’s not too early to start vaccinating. Encourage your patients to get a flu shot as it is still their best defense against the influenza virus. Medicare provides coverage of the flu vaccine without any out-of-pocket costs to the Medicare patient. No deductible or co-payment/coinsurance applies. And don’t forget, health care workers also need to protect themselves. Get your flu shot -- not the flu.

Remember, influenza vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. Note that influenza vaccine is not a Part D covered drug. For information about Medicare’s coverage of the influenza virus vaccine and its administration as well as related educational resources for health care professions and their staff, please go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/Downloads/flu_products.pdf on the CMS Web site. To download the Medicare Part B Immunization Billing quick reference chart, go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/qr_immun_bill.pdf on the CMS Web site.

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