Government Shutdown Week 3: What it means for your revenue cycle.

by | Oct 16, 2025 | Blog, News

TL;DR: CMS has paused Medicare payments for 10 business days during the government shutdown. That delay, stacked on top of the standard 14-day payment floor, pushes many practices’ reimbursement timelines closer to a month. Expect slower cash flow and more rework once Congress resolves the standoff. Now’s the time to tighten your revenue cycle and plan ahead.

The federal government shutdown is now in its third week, and it doesn’t look like we’ll have a quick fix on the table anytime soon.   CMS told MACs (Medicare Administrative Contractors) to temporarily hold the processing of Medicare fee-for-service claims for up to 10 business days. They say the goal is to avoid reprocessing a flood of claims when Congress finally acts. Meanwhile, providers should keep submitting claims as usual, but expect those payments to arrive late. Because Medicare already has a 14-day payment floor, officials say the impact will be minimal. Minimal? Sure. Add a 10 business-day hold on top of that, and the two-week payment window is now looking more like a month, and that’s before a single denial or appeal. That’s not panicking. That’s arithmetic. Medicaid funding continues (for now), so most state payments should keep moving. That does not mean zero friction. Enrollment actions, outreach, and assorted “nice to haves” all slow down during a shutdown, which adds even more sand to the gears. 

What to Expect Next

  • Longer Medicare cash conversion cycles. The extra 10-day hold stacks on top of the 14-day floor, so receipts slide to the right even if submissions keep flowing.
  • Higher rework risk when Congress resolves the shutdown. MACs often reprocess once extenders are restored, which means more adjustments even after the dust settles.
  • Uneven payer behavior. Medicare fee-for-service follows CMS. Medicare Advantage and commercial plans may not mirror it, so expect variability across lines. 

How to get in front of it

1) Model your cash flow with new lags
Add 10 to 15 business days to your baseline Medicare receipts until the hold lifts. If you have daily deposit data, shift the Medicare series right by two weeks and see how that will impact your operating cash and payroll windows.
  
2) Accelerate clean claims
Scrub hard and submit daily, rather than in weekly batches. Fewer edits now mean less pain later if reprocessing occurs.
  
3) Segment your receivables
Tag claims by payer and service date. Track which lines sit under the hold, which pay normally, and which might be reprocessed later. Tell your biller to keep a spreadsheet for aging, dollar-weighted days, and denial trends.
  
4) Watch your MAC closely
Subscribe to your MAC’s portal alerts and email updates. CMS guidance is flowing through MACs first, including when the hold lifts.
  
5) Shore up near-term liquidity
Stop noncritical spending, pace inventory, and hold on to big purchases until Medicare cash normalizes. Keep vendors informed so terms can hold.
  
6) Tighten downstream collections
Work aggressively on secondary and patient balances. Aim for same-week follow-up on EOBs to reduce slippage, as Medicare dollars will be slower.
  
7) Clarify telehealth and coverage details
If you deliver telehealth, verify current coverage and any shutdown-related operational notes from CMS or your MAC to ensure accurate scheduling.
 

Bottom Line

Medicare dollars will still move, but an extra 10-business-day hold and later reprocessing are very real things to keep an eye on. Do the grunt work now. Clean claims. Tight tracking. Clear cash views.

Future-you may be glad present-you acted like a skeptic today. 

If you need help bridging the gap

Thrivory can advance Medicare and Medicaid claims for medical and behavioral health services at a flat fee for the next 90 days. No time-locked contracts, no loans. Try it on a subset of claims and scale as needed.

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