Question re: Medicare and Athena

I am the only “biller” for a tiny clinic in Maine, and I learning as I go.

I am stumped by this and I would really appreciate any feedback.

A patient saw us for a groin strain that happened while stationary biking. He has traditional Medicare plus a supplement.

Medicare denied his claim because both, “this should be worker’s comp” and “this patient was in federal custody during the time of visit,” both of which are very much untrue. Our EHR is Athena and we pay for basic billing services. Athena automatically sent the patient a bill for the remainder, which he paid, and Athena closed the claim.

Now the patient claims that he has sorted this out with Medicare and asks that we refund him and drop the claim again to Medicare.

The claim is closed. I suppose I can refund it. Will that automatically reopen the claim so that we can drop it to Medicare again? Alternatively, will Medicare reimburse him if we send him the bill and EOB to deal with himself?

Any thoughts would be welcome.