Updated: CMS Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice

Date: 04/17/26

The Office of Management and Budget approved the updated Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) form for 3 years. CMS improved the notice’s readability and design. The new version is posted in English and Spanish on CMS's Beneficiary Notices Initiative (BNI) webpage and the Member Management section Superior HealthPlan’s Forms webpage. The updated MOON is effective now and expires February 28, 2029.

Providers who have existing stock of the expired MOON form may continue to use the expired version until April 20, 2026, but must transition to the updated form after date.

Providers are required to deliver a MOON form to Medicare beneficiaries (including health plan enrollees) informing them that they are outpatients receiving observation services and are not inpatients of a hospital or Critical Access Hospital (CAH). For additional instructions, see Section 400, of Chapter 30 of the CMS Medicare Claims Processing Manual (PDF).

For questions, please contact your Hospital Provider Representative at PR.Hospitals@SuperiorHealthPlan.com