Annual Creditable Coverage Notices for Employer Group Members
October 22, 2009
Federal regulations require that employers who provide prescription medication coverage to Medicare-eligible individuals notify those individuals whether their prescription drug coverage is “creditable” or “non-creditable” under Medicare Part D’s prescription drug coverage rules. Please remind your employer clients of their responsibility to provide this notification.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations, all Medicare eligibles, including those currently enrolled in Medicare, must receive an annual notice by November 15th. In addition, throughout the year Regence will notify employers of those employees who are reaching Medicare age so that employers can provide them with a copy of the appropriate notice.
In order to help our employer groups in determining whether their group’s prescription medication plan is creditable or non-creditable, we have provided some resources on our employer website. For Innova, Engage and Activate products, click here and for BlueChoices products, click here. If an employer group’s prescription medication plan is not listed, they should contact their Regence Sales Team for assistance.
To support employers with this notification requirement, also provided are Model Disclosure Notices for creditable and non-creditable coverage in both English and Spanish. Please note that the bracketed sections of the template need to be completed by the employer. We would suggest that these notices be placed on the employer’s letterhead.
For additional information regarding notification requirements, visit the CMS website at www.cms.hhs.gov/CreditableCoverage/. Also, as always, please feel free to contact your Regence Sales Team with any questions you have about this.
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