Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Office of Medicaid
600 Washington Street
Boston, MA  02111
www.mass.gov/masshealth	
				MassHealth
			All Provider Bulletin 135
					June 2004

	TO:	All Providers Participating in MassHealth

	FROM:	Beth Waldman, Medicaid Director

	RE:	New Massachusetts Management and Accounting Reporting System (NewMMARS)

Background	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is implementing a new financial management system called NewMMARS (New Massachusetts Management and Accounting Reporting System).  This change is being made to modernize the Commonwealth’s financial business capabilities and help achieve the Governor’s e-government initiative.

Effective July 1, 2004, all MassHealth payments for claims with dates of service in fiscal year 2005 will be issued via NewMMARS.  This bulletin describes the changes that may affect providers during the transition period to the NewMMARS. 

New Vendor Codes 	The Commonwealth is issuing new vendor codes for all vendors, including MassHealth providers, effective July 1, 2004.  The new vendor codes offer a greater level of security over the current system, which is based on federal tax identification numbers (TINs) and social security numbers.  The new vendor codes start with the letters “VC” followed by 10 randomly assigned digits. Your new vendor code is not related to your TIN. 

Sample old vendor code:  123-45-6789-000-1
Sample new vendor code:  VC9876543210

Please note that this will not affect your MassHealth provider number. Your MassHealth provider number will not change.

How to Get Your New 	The easiest way to get your new vendor code is to visit the VendorWeb
Vendor Code 	Web site on or after July 1, 2004. (See page 2 of this bulletin for log-in information.)  If you currently receive a paper check for your MassHealth payments, you will notice your new vendor code on all checks issued by NewMMARS on or after July 1, 2004.  If you currently receive MassHealth payments by electronic funds transfer (EFT), log on to VendorWeb to get your new vendor code.
	
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Visit VendorWeb 	VendorWeb is the Commonwealth’s on-line payment information source. Payments issued by NewMMARS will feature enhanced payment information on VendorWeb beginning July 1, 2004. 

Visit the VendorWeb Web site at www.mass.gov/massfinance.  

You may use either your new vendor code or your old/current vendor code to access VendorWeb.  

New Reference		If you receive paper checks, you will notice a change in some of the 
Information on 		information printed in the Payment Reference section beginning July 1, 
Checks 	2004.  The payment voucher code on checks issued by NewMMARS will have a new prefix starting with “GXMEHS.”

Sample current voucher code:  PVDMA12345678901
Sample new voucher code:  GXMEHS12345678901
 
Additionally, due to the recent reorganization of MassHealth, the payor information in the Payment Reference section will change from “Division of Medical Assistance” to “EO of Health & Human Services-MassHealth” as shown below.  

EO of Health & Human Services-MassHealth
600 Washington Street

Split Payments 		Due to the transition to the new accounting system, some MassHealth
During Transition 		payments will be split into two payments based on the date of service
Period 	on the claim.  The transition period is for all pay cycles from July 1, 2004, through August 31, 2004. 

During the transition period, the old MMARS system will continue to process payments for claims with dates of service before July 1, 2004, while NewMMARS will process payments for claims with dates of service on or after July 1, 2004.  Therefore, if you receive payments by check, you may receive two checks, or if you receive payment by EFT, you may receive two EFT deposits for a single pay cycle.

This transition effect is temporary.  Beginning in September 2004, NewMMARS will process all payments and you will resume receiving only one payment for all claims in a pay cycle, regardless of the dates of service.
		
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Reconciling Your		If your payment is split into two because it meets the criteria described 
Payment 			on page 2 of this bulletin, you will notice a discrepancy between the total 
Information 	amount paid by MassHealth and the check amount noted on the remittance advice.  This is because the remittance advice holds details for only one of the checks or EFT deposits that were made, rather than both.  However, the line item detail on the remittance advice and the total amount paid by MassHealth will equal the combined amount of the two payments that you receive.

Electronic Funds 		We are pleased to offer direct deposit to all MassHealth providers, and 
Transfer 	strongly encourage you to sign up to receive your MassHealth payments via EFT.  EFT allows your payment to be deposited into the account of your choice, and offers the following advantages over traditional payment via paper check:

•	timely access to funds
•	reduced administrative burden
•	elimination of lost, stolen, or misdirected checks.

For more information about EFT, including an application, visit our provider Web site at  www.mahealthweb.com or call Provider Enrollment and Credentialing at 1-800-322-2909.

Questions	The change to the new financial management system is part of a series of improvements to the Commonwealth’s vendor management.  We will inform you of exciting new functionality in the system as it becomes available.  Meanwhile, your understanding as we transition from the old system to the new system is greatly appreciated. 

If you have questions about the change in vendor codes or split payments during the accounting system transition period, please call MassHealth Provider Services at 617-628-4141 or 1-800-325-5231.