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South Dakota residents who are eligible for state-sponsored medical benefits (Title XIX or CHIP) are issued a Medical Benefits Card. This card must be presented and used to verify a patient's eligibility through the South Dakota Department of Social Services, Office of Medical Services Medical Eligibility Verification System (MEVS) each time the patient receives services.
The MEVS offers numerous benefits to South Dakota healthcare providers:
The MEVS electronic verification system gives you immediate access to the patient's eligibility status for the current date of service or a previous date of service. The process requires only a swipe of the patient's Medical Benefits Card through a point-of-service terminal or a few key strokes on a computer. If the response shows the patient is not eligible for the specified date of service, you know immediately that the patient is liable for payment of any services provided. The MEVS system may also be used to access data from other payer sources such as other state's Medical Assistance programs and from many private health insurance companies.
Emdeon, our contracted information provider, offers three options to verify eligibility information. The three options are:
All three options provide prompt response times, printable receipts and can verify eligibility status for prior dates of service. There is a nominal fee for each verification obtained through Emdeon.
The alternative to electronic verification is to use the SD Medical Assistance telephone audio response unit (ARU) by calling 1-800-452-7691. Each call takes approximately one minute to complete and this system is limited to current eligibility verification only.
New customers can contact Emdeon at 1-866-369-8805. Existing customers can contact Emdeon at 1-877-469-3263 or www.emdeon.com.