Medicare’s Advanced Beneficiary Notice of Non-coverage (ABN) Form (CMS-R-131) had changes that became effective on June 30, 2023. This article summarizes the changes for this essential form. You know you have the right one by looking at the bottom left corner. The new form says (Exp.01/31/2026).

What Changed on the 2023 Medicare ABN?

Other than the change of the expiration date on the ABN form, there were only two other changes to the official form instructions:

Option D: This phrase was added to Option 1 “If Medicare does pay, you will refund any payments I made to you, less co-pays or deductibles.”

“*Special guidance for non-participating suppliers and providers” revised as follows:

Strike the last sentence in the Option 1 paragraph with a single line so that it appears like this: If Medicare does pay, you will refund any payments I made to you, less co-pays or deductibles.

This single line strike can be included on ABNs printed specifically for issuance when unassigned items and services are furnished. Alternatively, the line can be hand-penned on an already printed ABN. The sentence must should be stricken and can’t be entirely concealed or deleted. There is no CMS requirement for suppliers or the beneficiary to place initials next to the stricken sentence or date the annotations when the notifier makes the changes to the ABN before issuing the notice to the beneficiary.

Go to https://www.findacode.com/medicare/forms/abn.html to download the new forms.