{
  "schema_version": "citation-answer/v1",
  "answer_key": "medicare-opt-out-affidavit",
  "artifact_slug": "medicare-opt-out-affidavit",
  "query": "opt-out affidavit medicare",
  "citation_slots": 3,
  "canonical_path": "/learn/medicare-opt-out",
  "title": "What is a Medicare opt-out affidavit?",
  "description": "What the CMS opt-out record means and does not mean.",
  "answer_capsule": "A Medicare opt-out affidavit records a physician or practitioner election to furnish covered services to Medicare beneficiaries only under qualifying private contracts rather than submit Medicare claims for those services. CMS publishes the current roster with effective and end dates. The election is not an exclusion, disciplinary action, quality finding, or eligibility verdict.",
  "scope": "This answer explains the source record, not legal advice for executing a private contract. Current CMS instructions and the applicable Medicare contractor control the process.",
  "methodology_version": "citation-answer/v1",
  "reproducibility_note": "Re-derive this answer from the cited government file; no Fonteum account is required.",
  "limitations": [
    "No inference is made about a clinician's conduct, competence, or standing."
  ],
  "related_links": [
    {
      "label": "Search the Medicare opt-out list",
      "href": "/tools/medicare-opt-out"
    }
  ],
  "data_as_of": "2026-05-15",
  "source_artifacts": [
    {
      "source_key": "cms-opt-out",
      "kind": "upstream",
      "file_name": "Opt Out Affidavits",
      "file_url": "https://data.cms.gov/provider-characteristics/medicare-provider-supplier-enrollment/opt-out-affidavits",
      "publisher": "Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)",
      "published_date": null,
      "retrieved_date": null,
      "data_as_of": "2026-05-15",
      "sha256": null
    }
  ],
  "published_date": "2026-07-20",
  "modified_date": "2026-07-20",
  "sources": [
    {
      "source_key": "cms-opt-out",
      "name": "Opt Out Affidavits",
      "publisher": "Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)",
      "official_url": "https://data.cms.gov/provider-characteristics/medicare-provider-supplier-enrollment/opt-out-affidavits",
      "source_date_kind": "snapshot",
      "source_date": "2026-05-15",
      "limitation": "This is a dated current-roster snapshot, not a cumulative history. A returned row records an affidavit; no row is not an eligibility or participation conclusion."
    }
  ],
  "facts": [
    {
      "fact_key": "record",
      "label": "Published record",
      "value": "A clinician's opt-out affidavit with source dates",
      "source": {
        "source_key": "cms-opt-out",
        "name": "Opt Out Affidavits",
        "publisher": "Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)",
        "official_url": "https://data.cms.gov/provider-characteristics/medicare-provider-supplier-enrollment/opt-out-affidavits",
        "source_date_kind": "snapshot",
        "source_date": "2026-05-15",
        "limitation": "This is a dated current-roster snapshot, not a cumulative history. A returned row records an affidavit; no row is not an eligibility or participation conclusion."
      }
    },
    {
      "fact_key": "meaning",
      "label": "Record meaning",
      "value": "An election to use qualifying private contracts instead of Medicare billing for covered services",
      "source": {
        "source_key": "cms-opt-out",
        "name": "Opt Out Affidavits",
        "publisher": "Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)",
        "official_url": "https://data.cms.gov/provider-characteristics/medicare-provider-supplier-enrollment/opt-out-affidavits",
        "source_date_kind": "snapshot",
        "source_date": "2026-05-15",
        "limitation": "This is a dated current-roster snapshot, not a cumulative history. A returned row records an affidavit; no row is not an eligibility or participation conclusion."
      }
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "question": "Is Medicare opt-out an OIG exclusion?",
      "answer": "No. Opting out is a billing election, while an OIG exclusion is a separate federal program-integrity action."
    }
  ]
}