BILLING FOR SERVICES

• Guidelines for Billing Part C are included as Attachment #1 of the Early Steps Service Provider Agreement. Bills for services provided are to be submitted for each month using the Reimbursement Request and Service Report Forms included in Attachment #2 of the Early Steps Service Provider Agreement. Do not include services for more than a single month on a bill. To facilitate the processing of an invoice, make sure to include the child’s full name on all bills and use the appropriate initials for the provider of each service. Services cannot be reimbursed if they are not authorized in the Data System.
• In order to bill ITDS Services to Medicaid, there must be a Medicaid Early Intervention Session(s) Plan of Care and documentation of services provided according to the Florida Medicaid Early Intervention Services Coverage and Limitations Handbook. For additional information, contact the Local Early Steps Director (Joy McAfee, 850-416-7657) or local Medicaid Part C Liaison (Jeanette Richard, 850-595-5700, Ext. 143).
• Consultation Services can be billed when team members are working together to implement team early intervention services from the child’s IFSP. Consultation includes the IFSP meeting, team meetings and individual consultations. Services may be conducted face-to-face or by phone and are to be billed according to the appropriate code and reimbursement rate.
• In order to bill for Therapy Assistant services, the service must be authorized on the IFSP, be provided by an enrolled provider and be billed at the therapy assistant rate.
• New Reimbursement Rates were implemented by the State Office effective July 1, 2006. Consultation Services are now reimbursed at $50 per hour for face-to-face consultation and phone consultation is now reimbursed at $25 per hour. The appropriate code must be used for billing to identify the appropriate reimbursement rate. Travel reimbursement was reduced to $30 per hour; however, the local office will continue to reimburse at the $50 rate until further notice in order to facilitate moving services to the natural environment.
• Early Steps requires a written denial from Medicaid before Part C funds can be used to purchase durable medical equipment (DME). The Medicaid Authorization Request Form is to be used for this purpose.