ABOUT
A Brief History
For more than twenty years Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama has been a source of "free" software for filing electronic claims in the form of "private" claims to BCBS of Alabama and Medicare claims to its parent company Cahaba GBA. The first permutation of this was PCEMC+ which also provided for additional features such as Claim Status and Eligibility transactions.
Two events, the implementation of HIPAA and the transition of Medicare Claims processing to the new Enterprise Data Center (EDC) on September 8, 2008 have forever changed that. As a result Cahaba GBA, the parent company of BCBS of Alabama and the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi have been permanently split into separate agencies even though it remains a single entity.
The split has resulted in decisions to provide two separate versions of PC-ACE Pro 32 Electronic Claims Billing software. One version, independently developed by Cahaba GBA will be capable of electronic claims submissions direct to Cahaba GBA for Medicare Part B claims ONLY!. This release will remain available to Providers at no charge for the software, although there have always been fees from vendors like M.A.S.H., Inc. for installation, configuration, training and support of the FREE version.
The new "ALL Payer" version, and the primary focus of this site, is no longer free, but has significant features worthy of consideration. It can submit both Medicare and BCBS of Alabama claims plus it will have the ability to transmit claims to Availity, a clearinghouse service provider. Availity will also include the ability to send various commercial payer claims and Railroad Medicare claims; however, it will not be capable of transmitting Alabama Medicaid claims.
As more information about the new relase becomes available, we will post it here. Stay tuned!