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Paperless Payments Are Coming…Just Not Knocking on CMS’s Door Yet
If you’ve heard about Executive Order 14247 directing federal agencies to move away from paper checks and toward electronic payments, you might be wondering: Is CMS about to take away my envelopes and lockboxes? Short answer: not yet.
The Executive Order sends a clear message that the federal government wants to retire paper checks and manual payment processes. But for those of us in the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) world, it’s important to separate the long-term direction from the day-to-day reality.
Right now, CMS is not actively shifting MSP processes to paperless payments. There’s no ‘drop everything and retool’ memo circulating. Instead, CMS is in an evaluation phase, taking a close look at what systems, resources, and tools would be needed to comply with the Executive Order in a way that makes sense operationally.
In other words, CMS is checking the toolbox before taking on the project.
Even so, the direction of travel is unmistakable: The shift toward electronic payments aligns with goals MSP stakeholders know well: faster transactions, fewer delays, improved accuracy, reduced administrative burden, and better security.
For insurers, TPAs, employers, and recovery vendors, this is actually a helpful pause. While CMS evaluates its readiness, stakeholders can do the same. This is a prime opportunity to review whether current systems can support end-to-end electronic transactions, whether reconciliation processes rely too heavily on paper, and where automation could make life easier when paperless payments eventually arrive.
Think of this as the calm before the e-payment storm. There’s nothing you need to change today, but there’s plenty you can do to make tomorrow less disruptive.
CMS may not be flipping the switch tomorrow, but when that switch does flip, the stakeholders who prepared early will be glad they did. And maybe—just maybe—we’ll all spend a little less time wondering whether a check is lost in the mail or just enjoying an unplanned vacation.