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Payment reimbursement
Payment reimbursement
Mercy Care contracts with the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to provide covered Medicaid benefits and services to members. This is Arizona’s Medicaid Managed Care Program. You’ll need to register with AHCCCS for payment reimbursement. You can learn more about reimbursement in:
Your contract, if you’re a contracted provider
The AHCCCS fee schedule, if you’re a contracted or noncontracted provider
No balance billing
Balance billing is not allowed. This is when you bill a member for the difference between your charge and the allowed amount. You can read our statements about balance billing:
You agree to abide by state laws and accept the state Medicaid payment as payment in full. Arizona state law and your Mercy Care provider contract prohibits the balance billing of members for Medicaid covered services and benefits. Check your provider manual to learn more.
Federal law prohibits balance billing of dually eligible people in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program, which exempts them from cost-sharing. You must not balance bill QMB members for Medicare cost-sharing, regardless of whether the state reimburses you for the full Medicare cost-sharing amounts. You must accept our Medicare payment and the Medicaid plan payment (if any) as payment in full for Medicare-covered services and benefits. Check your provider manual to learn more.
File a claim
File a claim
You’ll need to complete a claim form online or in print. Here are some tips:
Complete all required fields and include documentation when necessary. Be sure claims are legible and suitable for imaging and/or microfilming for permanent record retention.
Avoid denials for untimely filing due to illegible or poor-quality copies or missing documentation.
You can also review the instructions for each form:
CMS 1500 form instructions (PDF): Medical and professional services; dental services considered medical services (oral surgery anesthesiology)
CMS-1450 (UB-04 form) instructions (PDF): Hospital inpatient, outpatient, skilled nursing and emergency room services
ADA 2012 claim form instructions (PDF): General dental services
Don’t send claims by fax or in person. You can submit your completed claim form:
You can submit claims or resubmissions online (preferred method) through electronic billing software, which:
Ensures faster processing and payment of claims
Eliminates the cost of sending paper claims
Allows tracking of each claim sent
Minimizes clerical data entry errors
Results in a Level Two report for your vendor — the only accepted proof of timely filing for electronic claims
Our electronic data interchange (EDI) vendors are:
Change Healthcare
SPSI
SSI
All electronic submissions comply with applicable laws, including HIPAA regulations and Mercy Care policies and procedures.
Questions about electronic billing? Contact us or your EDI vendor for answers.
Medical claims for Mercy Care ACC-RBHA, DCS CHP, Long Term Care, Developmental Disabilities, and Mercy Care Advantage
Mercy Care Claims Department
P.O. Box 982975
El Paso, TX 79998-2975
Medical claims for Mercy Care ACC-RBHA with SMI
Mercy Care ACC-RBHA with SMI Claims Department
P.O. Box 982976
El Paso, TX 79998-2976
Dental claims
DentaQuest of Arizona, LLC
Attention: Claims Department
P.O. Box 2906
Milwaukee, WI 53201-2906
Resubmissions
Mark resubmitted claims clearly with “Attention: Resubmissions” to avoid denial as a duplicate.
Per your contract, we need to receive claims for services you provide our members in a timely manner:
New claims: File claims with a valid claim form within 150 days from the date you performed services or from the date of eligibility posting, whichever is later. Do this unless there is a contractual exception. For hospital inpatient claims, date of service means the date of patient’s discharge.
Claim resubmissions: File claim resubmissions within 365 days from the date you performed services or eligibility posting deadline, whichever is later. Exception: If a claim is recouped, you have another 60 days from the recoupment date to resubmit a claim. Be sure to include any documentation that may affect the outcome or decision.
If you don’t submit claims in a timely manner, this may result in a denial for timely filing.
EFT is electronic funds transfer, directly to your bank account. Setting up EFT:
- Improves payment consistency
- Allows for fast, accurate and secure transaction
ERA is an electronic file that contains claim payment and remittance info. Setting up ERA:
- Reduces manual posting of claim payment info, which saves you time and money, while improving efficiency
- Removes the need for paper Explanation of Benefits (EOB) statements
EERS offers payees multiple ways to set up EFT and ERA in order to receive transactions from multiple payers. If a provider’s tax identification number (TIN) is active in multiple states, a single registration will auto-enroll the payee for multiple payers. You can also complete registration using a national provider identifier (NPI) for payment across multiple accounts.
How does it work?
ECHO Health processes and distributes Mercy Care claims payments to providers. To enroll in EERS, visit the ECHO portal. You can manage electronic funds transfer (EFT) and electronic remittance advice (ERA) enrollments with multiple payers on a single platform.
Sign up for EFT
To sign up for EFT, you’ll need to provide an ECHO payment draft number and payment amount for security reasons as part of the enrollment authentication. Find the ECHO draft number on all provider Explanation of Provider Payments (EPP), typically above your first claim on the EPP. Haven’t received a payment from ECHO before? You’ll receive a paper check with a draft number you can use to register after receiving your first payment.
Update your payment or ERA distribution preferences
You can update your preferences on the dedicated ECHO portal.
Use our portal to avoid fees
Fees apply when you choose to enroll in ECHO’s ACH all payer program. Be sure to use the ECHO portal for no-fee processing. You can confirm you’re on our portal when you see “Aetna Better Health” at the top left of the page.
Be aware — you may see a 48-hour delay between the time you receive a payment, and an ERA is available.
Questions?
You can contact ECHO via email or by phone at 1-888-834-3511. Or contact your Network Management representative.
Additional ECHO resources
Was your claim overpaid or paid in error? You can contact us for help by calling Claims Investigation Claims Research at 602-263-3000.
Send any refunds to:
Mercy Care Finance
P.O. Box 90640
Phoenix, AZ 85066
File a claims dispute
A claims dispute involves the payment of a claim, denial of a claim, imposition of a sanction or reinsurance. You can file a claims dispute based on:
Claim denial
Recoupment
Dissatisfaction with claims payment
Before you begin a claims dispute, take these steps:
Try to resolve the matter — the claim dispute process is for use when other attempts at resolution have failed.
Log in to your Provider Portal to search for your claim.
Contact Claims Inquiry Claims Research at 602-263-3000. Follow all applicable laws, policies and contractual requirements.
All disputes related to a claim for system-covered services must be filed in writing and received by the administration or the prepaid capitated provider or program contractor within one of these time frames:
Within 12 months after the date of service
Within 12 months after the date that eligibility is posted
Within 60 days after the date of the denial of a timely claim submission, whichever is later
These time frames are according to the Arizona Revised Statute, Arizona Administrative Code and AHCCCS guidelines.
Mercy Care Advantage providers
Contracted providers with Mercy Care Advantage do not have claim dispute rights. You must submit claims you’re disputing through the resubmission process.
Federal regulations prohibit us from handling your complaints under the Medicare Advantage appeals process. This is because you are a contracted provider with Mercy Care Advantage.
You can submit your claims dispute by:
Fax (preferred method)
We can receive and respond to your dispute by fax, allowing you to get faster decisions: 860-907-3511.
Mercy Care Grievance and Appeals
4750 S. 44th Place, Ste. 150
Phoenix, AZ 85040
Be sure to include all supporting documentation with the initial claim dispute submission. The claims dispute must:
Specifically state the factual and legal basis for the relief requested
Include copies of any supporting documentation, such as remittance advice(s), medical records or claims
Failure to specifically state the factual and legal basis may result in denial of the claim dispute.
We’ll acknowledge a claim dispute request within 5 business days after receipt. If you don’t receive an acknowledgement letter within 5 business days, resend your fax.
Once received, we’ll review the claim dispute and make a decision within 30 days after receipt. We may ask for an extension of up to 45 days, if necessary.
If you disagree with our Notice of Decision, you can ask for a State Fair Hearing. You must file the request for a State Fair Hearing in writing no later than 30 days after receipt of the Notice of Decision. Please mark your correspondence “State Fair Hearing Request.” Send it to:
Mercy Care Grievances and Appeals
Attention: Hearing Coordinator
4750 S. 44th Place, Ste. 150
Phoenix, AZ 85040
More about claims
For more information about coordination of benefits, go to your provider manual.
Southwestern Provider Services, Inc. (SPSI)
Phone: 480-652-9665
Email: Bethany Fitzgerald
Payer IDs
Mercy Care ACC-RBHA with SMI
CMS 1500 and UB-04: 33628
All other Mercy Care plans
CMS 1500: MCP1
UB-04: MCPU
Phone: 1-877-363-3666, option 1 for Sales
Payer IDs
Mercy Care ACC-RBHA with SMI
CMS 1500 and UB-04: 33628
All other Mercy Care plans
CMS 1500 and UB-04: 86052
Phone: 1-866-RELAY-ME (1-866-735-2963), ext. 2
Payer IDs
Mercy Care ACC-RBHA with SMI
CMS 1500 and UB-04: 33628
All other Mercy Care plans
CMS 1500 and UB-04: 86052
All electronic submissions comply with applicable laws, including HIPAA regulations and Mercy Care policies and procedures.
Questions about electronic billing? Contact us or your EDI vendor for answers.
Questions?
Refer to your claims processing manual (PDF), check a claim with our IVR system (PDF), or contact us.