March is one of the busiest Reconciliation months for many RDS Plan Sponsors. To help facilitate a successful Reconciliation process, CMS’ RDS Center encourages the Plan Sponsor community to take advantage of the resources available on the RDS Program Website:
- Navigating Reconciliation: Timely Tips and Reminders: This technical article provides tips for resolving some of the most common Reconciliation issues reported to CMS' RDS Center. Review tips to keep in mind before you start Reconciliation and once you’ve initiated the process, as well as links to other resources.
- RDS Welcome Kit: If this is your first time managing or assisting with the Reconciliation process, the RDS Welcome Kit provides you with a list of Reconciliation resources specific to your role:
- Account Manager Quick Start Guide: The Account Manager plays a key role in the process and generally facilitates Reconciliation activities. The Account Manager Quick Start Guide offers links to a number of Reconciliation resources. These include tips for Communicating With Your RDS Vendor, if your Plan Sponsor is working with a Vendor to manage retiree and/or cost data on the application.
- Authorized Representative Quick Start Guide: The Authorized Representative may complete many steps in the Reconciliation process; however, most are usually completed by the Account Manager. The Authorized Representative, though, is the only user that can approve the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) information in Step 11 and submit the Reconciliation payment request in Step 12. Review the Authorized Representative Quick Start Guide for links to instructions to complete these two steps.
- Designee Quick Start Guide: Designees may assist with many Reconciliation tasks depending on assigned privileges. Designees can assist with retiree management, cost submission and review, and EFT review. The Designee Quick Start Guide provides links to instructional resources based on privilege.
- Vendor Quick Start Guide: Vendors may assist with retiree management and/or cost submission during Reconciliation. The Vendor Quick Start Guide offers tips to Vendors for successfully communicating and working with Plan Sponsors.
Remember: CMS’ RDS Center does not grant Reconciliation Deadline extensions. It’s important to know and meet your application’s Reconciliation Deadline. If interim payments were received and the Plan Sponsor does not complete Reconciliation by the Reconciliation Deadline, the sum of all payments received will become an overpayment, and CMS will initiate immediate action to recover those funds. Plan Sponsors that fail to meet the Reconciliation Deadline for a given application and have not received interim payments for that application will not be eligible for any subsidy payments for that application.
If you have any questions or need any assistance with the Reconciliation process, please contact CMS’ RDS Center.