EDS has secured a BPO contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The deal will see NHIC Corp. EDS’s subsidiary, administer Part A and Part B Medicare claims payments for health care providers in five of America’s Northeastern states.

The contract could be worth up to US $176 million if all available options are exercised for the next five years.

The Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) Jurisdiction 14 contract will help streamline Part A and Part B Medicare claims processing work done in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. The contract will serve approximately 1.7 million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, almost 80,000 physicians and practitioners, and 220 Medicare hospitals in Jurisdiction 14.

NHIC will serve as the first point of contact for the processing and payment of Medicare fee-for-service claims from hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, physicians and other health care providers within Jurisdiction 14. NHIC will assume full responsibility for the claims processing work that is currently performed by three fiscal intermediaries and two carriers.

“The breadth of skills and experience from EDS subsidiary NHIC will help CMS achieve its goal of consolidating its benefits processing operations while saving money, promoting innovation and realizing operational efficiencies,” said Dennis Stolkey, senior VP of U.S. Public Sector at EDS, an HP company. “EDS has been a CMS Medicare partner since 1965, and this opportunity allows us to provide additional technical support for Medicare.”