We will attempt to contact the beneficiary three times.
Send the first letter and allow 2 weeks for the beneficiary to respond before sending
a follow-up request.
NOTE: If the beneficiary resides in a nursing home, call the nursing home to verify the
beneficiary is alive before suspending benefits.
If the nursing home alleges the:
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•
beneficiary is alive, begin representative payee development, if necessary; or
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•
beneficiary is deceased, process the report of death. (For instructions on how to process a death report,
see GN 02602.640).
Include the following language in the letter when sending the final (third) request:
“We have tried to contact you twice. It is very important that you respond to this
letter. If you do not respond within two weeks we may suspend your benefits until
we speak with you.”
Add a remark to the MNUP website documenting your attempts to contact the beneficiary. Include the dates of each contact
and the method of attempted contact (e.g. telephone or mail).
If the beneficiary fails to respond to the third request, follow procedures in GN 02602.610B.4.
If you suspend benefits, immediately refer the case to OIG using ARIS. Provide as
much information as available in ARIS. Annotate the online worksheet that you referred
the case to OIG. For more information on ARIS, see GN 04124.001.
NOTE: When completing ARIS for MNUP, select program option “Medicare Non-utilization”
then select "Other."