Noridian lands big Medicare contract

BISMARCK — Fargo-based Noridian Administrative Services LLC will be handling more than 10 percent of the Medicare Part A and Part B claims nationwide after landing another big contract.

Noridian, which is affiliated with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, plans to add at least 100 new employees in Fargo and an undetermined number at some of its other locations, spokeswoman Denise Kolpack said Thursday.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this week awarded Noridian the contract to handle Medicare Part A and Part B administration for Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin. In July 2006, Noridian was awarded a similar contract for North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Arizona.

The contracts, which the federal agency said each are worth about $1.4 billion over five years, are among 15 awarded under efforts to modernize Medicare.

Medicare Part A claims are submitted by such health care providers as hospitals and nursing homes. Medicare Part B claims are submitted by doctors, laboratories and other practitioners. Together, the two regions to be handled by Noridian have more than 850 hospitals and about 145,000 practitioners.

Noridian also has done Medicare claims work for Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska.

“I believe our success and continued strong performance in those contracts were undoubtedly factors in CMS’s award decision,” Kaylin Frappier, Noridian’s senior vice president of Medicare operations, said in a statement.

Last May, Noridian lost its bid to win the Medicare A and B contract for the region that includes Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Idaho. That contract was awarded to Maine-based National Heritage Insurance Corp.

Noridian has protested the bid selection and expects a response by April, Kolpack said. The four-state region has nearly 240 hospitals and about 56,000 practitioners. Should Noridian prevail in that effort, it would handle more than 13 percent of the total annual claims nationwide.

Noridian has a number of other government contracts. It has about 1,000 employees in North Dakota and 10 other states. About 700 of the workers are in Fargo.

The new contract awarded to Noridian was among five CMS announced this week, the final of the 15 awarded nationwide.

CMS said the new contract holders will assume full responsibility for the claims processing work in their respective jurisdictions no later than March 2010.

“With these last awards, CMS completes a major step in its effort to improve the way in which the government contracts for claims administration for the largest part of Medicare across the United States,” acting CMS Administrator Kerry Weems said in a statement.

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On the Net:

Noridian: http://www.noridianmedicare.com/

CMS Medicare contracting reform site: www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareContractingReform/

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