Failure to Issue Required Medicare Beneficiary Notices
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide required Skilled Nursing Facility Advance Beneficiary Notices of Non-coverage (SNF ABN) and Notice of Medicare Non-Coverage (NOMNC) to two residents who were discharged from Medicare Part A services before exhausting their benefit days. For both residents, documentation showed that Medicare Part A services were discontinued, but there was no evidence that the appropriate beneficiary notices were issued at the time of discharge. The Director of Nursing confirmed during an interview that beneficiary notices were not being completed prior to February of the current year. Facility policy required that NOMNCs be issued prior to therapy discharge and, if Medicare days remained, that both SNF ABN and NOMNC forms be provided, but this was not followed for the residents in question.