Medicare: Reminder to send us your annual interim rate letter

Important: Send us your updated CMS interim rate letter for services provided in critical access hospitals, children’s hospitals, cancer hospitals and rural health clinics

Every year, Medicare administrative contractors (MAC) or fiscal intermediaries at CMS issue annual interim rate letters (IRLs) to the following types of health care facilities that provide inpatient and outpatient care: 

• Critical-access hospitals
• Children’s hospitals
• Cancer hospitals 
• Rural health clinics

The letters give reimbursement information that health plans use to determine facility rates. If your facility doesn’t fall into one of these categories, you may disregard this notice.

What you need to do

As soon as you receive your IRL from CMS, send the letter to us to ensure you’re reimbursed at the correct rate and to minimize the need for corrected claims. Follow the instructions below, depending on your network status. 

Out-of-network providers 

• Send us a copy of this year’s letter using one of the following methods: 
  • Email: rpi_irl@uhc.com 
  • Fax: 866-943-9811
• Include contact information for your organization on the cover sheet with each submission 
• Please note: The out-of-network email address and fax number are only for submitting IRLs. Please do not send us other documents, such as: 
  • Medical records
  • Claims
  • Appeals
  • Medicaid
  • W-9s
  • Subrogation
    
    

If you need to submit these types of documents to UnitedHealthcare for out-of-network reimbursements, please send them to the address or fax number listed in the corresponding provider letter.

Network providers

• Send a copy of this year’s IRL to your UnitedHealth Network manager
• Send a second copy to the out-of-network contact (see above) to ensure your out-of-network rates are also updated
• Include contact information for your organization’s billing department on the cover sheet with each submission

If you don’t have an IRL

If you provide care at the type of facilities listed above and don’t have an IRL, please contact your Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for a copy.