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This section includes useful information to help Medicare Advantage Plans, Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plans, Prescription Drug Plans, and 1876 Cost Plans with Marketing efforts.
2010 Annual Notice of Change/Evidence of Coverage (ANOC/EOC) Templates The final Annual Notice of Change/Evidence of Coverage (ANOC/EOC) templates are posted below. After careful consideration of the comments received through the public comment period, we have made a number of clarifications in the final ANOC/EOC templates. The changes made to the document are described in the ANOC/EOC cover memo below. The 2010 Standardized Combined ANOC/EOC Instructions to Plans and Combined Checklist are included in the 2010 ANOC/EOC Templates, Instructions, and Checklist file below. Marketing Surveillance Activities The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA), required a number of changes to Medicare Advantage (MA), Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plan (MA-PD), and other prescription drug plan (PDP) organizations. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued final regulations designed to protect Medicare beneficiaries from deceptive or high-pressure marketing tactics by private insurance companies and their agents, brokers or plan representatives (hereinafter referred to as plan representatives). In an effort to ensure compliance with these new marketing requirements and prohibitions, CMS initiated a comprehensive surveillance program that commenced during the contract year (CY) 2009 MA Plan and MA-PD annual enrollment period (AEP) and continued through March 31, 2009, the end of the Medicare Advantage (MA) open enrollment period (OEP). CMS is sharing the enclosed report with Medicare Advantage Organizations and Prescription Drug Plan Sponsors in an effort to provide a description of the results from the CY2009 surveillance initiative. Based on the success of these activities, CMS intends to continue the marketing surveillance initiative and expand it to other program areas in the future. CMS-State Collaboration Activities The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a part of our agreement to share information and collaborate on oversight issues with the State Departments of Insurance (DOIs), has strengthened protections for particularly vulnerable beneficiaries. CMS and participating State DOIs have signed a joint letter to educate and protect residents of low income senior and Independent Care for the Mentally Retarded and the Mentally Retarded and Developmentally Disabled (ICF/MR) housing facilities concerning inappropriate behavior of agents. In this letter, we urge facility administrators to be vigilant in reporting suspect Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug plan marketing. We also describe Medicare and Medicaid patient rights and protections relative to agent behaviors as afforded under MIPPA. CMS continues to work collaboratively with the States where the sharing of information will not only strengthen State and Federal oversight efforts, but provide more protection for Medicare beneficiaries.
Page Last Modified: 10/23/2009 2:50:35 PM
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