Medicare Summary Notice

A Medicare Summary Notice is a letter that people with Original Medicare receive every three months. This is a claims statement, not a bill.

Your MSN includes a list of all doctor visits, services or supplies billed to Medicare in your name during the three-month period.

MSNs explain the charges Medicare will pay along with the maximum amount you may owe.

Beneficiaries enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan or a standalone Part D plan will receive an explanation of benefits from their plan provider, not a Medicare Summary Notice.

Your Medicare Summary Notice can help you monitor your out-of-pocket costs and ensure you were properly billed for the services you received.

You should compare the information on your notice with bills, statements and receipts from your health care providers and suppliers.

Ensure that the dates, billing codes and descriptions of services you received match.

“One of the most common billing mistakes we see are providers billing patients directly instead of submitting through insurance,” said Caitlin Donovan, a health care policy expert at the nonprofit Patient Advocate Foundation.

Health care billing mistakes are extremely common, said Donovan, whose organization estimates that at least half of all patient’s medical bills contain errors.
“A provider may have a claim denied by Medicare. Instead of fixing it, they just bill the patient directly — either as a mistake or intentionally,” Donavon told RetireGuide.

That’s why waiting for your Medicare statement is important: It’s a way to make sure Medicare has received a claim from your provider and the provider has paid their share.

“You can compare your bill and (Medicare statement) to see what you owe, and make sure it’s the correct amount,” Donovan said. “If they’re different, there’s probably been a mistake somewhere.”

If numbers or dates don’t match up, you need to report it. It may be a simple clerical error, or it could be a red flag for Medicare fraud.

Call your provider or Medicare, depending on the mistake, Donovan said.

Contact your doctor’s office for clerical mistakes, such as incorrect medical coding. For any other incorrect information, contact Medicare’s customer service and support.

Otherwise, Medicare assumes you received the services provided as described in the notice and may deny coverage until errors are resolved.

You’ll receive a Medicare Summary Notice for both Part A and Part B. Each page contains specific information.

If you need help understanding your Medicare Summary Notice, your Senior Medicare Patrol can help.

Senior Medicare Patrol chapters are grant-funded projects of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living. The program aims to prevent, detect and report fraud and errors in the Medicare program.

This 20-minute tutorial from the Senior Medicare Patrol presents the basics of how to read your MSN.

According to experts, it’s recommended to hold onto them for at least one to three years. 

It’s also important to keep them while the listed medical services are in the payment process by Medicare and supplemental insurance. Although Medicare generally does not follow up on anything older than three years, it’s a good practice to keep them for tax purposes as well.

How long you keep these records depends on your personal preference. Remember, you can access Medicare Summary Notices from the last 36 months at any time online through your My Medicare Account.

You will automatically receive your Medicare Summary Notice in the mail every three months. You do not need to request it.

You can also request MSNs in accessible formats, including Braille, large print, data or audio files, relay services and TTY communications.

If you misplace a notice or need to request an older copy, you can do so by logging in to your online Medicare account. This allows you to review all claims processed within the last 36 months.

Yes, Medicare Summary Notices are available online — but you must sign up to receive them electronically.

If you opt for electronic notices, you’ll stop receiving printed copies of your MSNs in the mail.

Instead, you’ll get an email every month from your online My Medicare Account. You can then view your MSN online and print a copy if you want it.

Signing up for eMSNs can help you reduce paperwork at your home. You can access these online documents at any time.