[MMA News Now, Oct. 11, 2012] Noridian Administrative Services and Wisconsin Physicians Service, Minnesota’s current Medicare fiscal intermediary and Part B carrier, have protested the contract awarded to National Government Services, Inc. (NGS) on Sept. 27.

The Jurisdiction 6 A/B MAC was created to administer Medicare Part A and Part B claims for covered services in the states of Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin and includes services to home health and hospice providers in 13 states and five U.S. territories.

NGS had been set to replace Wisconsin Physicians Service (WPS), which has served as the Part B Medicare carrier for Minnesota since 2000.

As a result of the protest, transition work will stop while the protest is under review by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The current Medicare fiscal intermediaries and carriers for these Medicare workloads will continue in their current roles until CMS has time to adjudicate the filed protests to this award.