Medicare administrative contractor news includes a data breach and potential consolidation

Medicare administrative contractor news includes a data breach and potential consolidation 
HFMA, Downers Grove, IL; by Nick Hut; 9/9/24 
Recent happenings involving Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) include a notice of a data breach and a request for feedback on possible consolidation. CMS sent out word that nearly 950,000 Medicare beneficiaries whose claims go through Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS) are being informed that their protected health information or other personally identifiable information may have been compromised due to a security vulnerability in third-party software. The breach also could have affected those with other insurance if their information was collected to support CMS’s audits of healthcare providers, according to a news release. Belying its name, WPS handles Medicare Parts A and B claims spanning Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Nebraska (not Wisconsin).