Employers who offer prescription drug benefits to
Medicare eligible individuals are required to
notify the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of
the creditable/non-creditable nature of their
prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D by
March 31, 2006.
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What Needs to be Done |
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You, as an employer must notify the Center for
Medicare and Medicaid services by March 31, 2006
whether the prescription drug coverage offered under
your health plan is creditable coverage under
Medicare Part D.
There will be an annual notification required in the
future. We will provide further information when it
is available.
Even if you do not currently cover any Medicare
eligible individuals in your group plan, we
recommend that you submit the initial filing with
the state.
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How to Notify CMS |
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CMS is making it easy by providing a one page web
form to do this initial notification.
You will need your federal id number and an
authorized individual to provide the information.
We cannot do this for you.
You will need to know how many Medicare eligible
individuals will be covered under the plan year.
For Blue Shield of California groups, notices to
individuals were mailed on November 7, 2005.
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Creditable Coverage Review |
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Our November Administrator's Alert discussed
creditable coverage. Only a few plans offered by
California carriers do not meet Medicare Part D
creditable coverage requirements.
Last fall, we contacted those employers who offer
plans that do not meet requirements. If you have
questions about your plan(s), please let us know.
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Help Us Help You! |
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Help us serve you better! If you run into a
challenging benefits issue, let us know! We'll work
with you to find a solution-and help others.
Thanks for being our client! We appreciate your
business.
We want to make your job easier. Call us at
800.733.8692 or...
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