Ask Your Health or Medical Question

Type your medical question here.

 letters left

What Is Assignment?

Assignment is an agreement between you, Medicare, and doctors, other health care providers, or suppliers. When you “assign” a claim to your doctor, Medicare will pay your doctor, provider, or supplier directly for the services you get.

If your doctor, provider, or supplier accepts assignment

Getting services and supplies from a doctor, provider, or supplier who accepts assignment can reduce your out-of-pocket costs.

Most doctors, providers, and suppliers accept assignment, but you should always check to make sure. In some cases they must accept assignment, like when they have a participation agreement with Medicare and give you Medicare-covered services.

If a doctor, provider, or supplier accepts assignment, they agree to only charge you the Medicare deductible or coinsurance amount and will wait for Medicare to pay its share.

All doctors, providers, and suppliers that give you Medicare-covered services have to submit your claim to Medicare directly. They can’t charge you for submitting the claim.

If your doctor, provider, or supplier doesn’t accept assignment

They still must submit a claim to Medicare when they give you Medicare-covered services. If they don’t submit the claim for these services, you should contact the company that handles Medicare claims for your State to file a complaint. You can call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-663-4227) for their telephone number. TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048. In the meantime, you might have to pay the entire charge at the time of service, and then submit your claim to Medicare to get paid back.

They may charge you more than the Medicare-approved amount, but there is a limit called “the limiting charge.” They can only charge you 15% over the Medicare-approved amount (but may be lower in your state). The limiting charge applies only to certain services and doesn’t apply to some supplies and durable medical equipment.