MassHealth Ending Span Billing for Independent Nurse Services

MassHealth is updating its billing system to no longer allow for span billing for Independent Nurses starting July 1, 2024. Span billing refers to the practice of submitting claims in which the claim does not distinguish individual dates of service. MassHealth is ending the allowance for span billing in order to improve provider billing compliance.

For claims submitted on or after July 1, 2024, any attempt to use span billing in the claim submission will result in a denial, citing error code “938: PROCEDURE CODE CANNOT BE BILLED WITH A DATE SPAN.” Instead, Independent Nurses who want to submit claims for multiple dates of service will need to distinguish each date of service and associated continuous skilled nursing (CSN) units on individual claim lines.

MassHealth has created a Job Aid which explains, step-by-step, how to submit claims without using span billing. This Job Aid can be accessed on the provider portal at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/2f9wpmpf.

For questions, please contact the MassHealth LTSS Provider Service Center at support@masshealthltss.com or (844) 368-5184.