Under a Medicare Part D plan, this phrase means it is the extra dollar amount added to the monthly insurance premium if the Medicare beneficiary does not enroll when first eligible unless he or she is covered by creditable coverage from another plan. The penalty is 1% for every month past the end of the initial enrollment period that was May 15, 2006.

After the normal retirement age of 65. Qualified pension plans cannot force a plan participant to retire at a specific age and cannot stop accruing pension benefits if he or she wants to work beyond the normal retirement age.

Proposal to encourage reinstatement of a lapsed insurance policy by accepting an overdue premium after the grace period. Usually such offers do not require submission of evidence of insurability or completion of a reinstatement application. Also called late-payment offer .

To deposit into a general account illegally obtained funds (fraudulent claim payments) with legally obtained funds (legitimate claim payments). Also called money laundering .

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), an officer or employee of any agency of the United States, a state, a territory, a political subdivision of a state or territory, or an Indian tribe, who has legal authority to investigate an official inquiry into a potential violation of the law or prosecute a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding because of an alleged violation of the law.

Legal claim or dispute brought into a court of law. Also called suit .

1. HCPCS Level II modifier that may be used with CPT or HCPCS Level II codes indicating a specific vessel (left circumflex coronary artery) in a stent placement, balloon angioplasty, and/or atherectomy. 2. Abbreviation for low complexity. See low complexity (LC) .

Local coverage determination articles and frequently asked questions (FAQs) that appear on Medicare contractor websites that address local coverage, coding, and medical review–related billing issues.