The Authorized Representative must notify CMS' RDS Center of a change of Plan Sponsor EIN or Company Name. A change of ownership or Company Name is defined as a change in a Plan Sponsor's Federal Tax ID Number or Company Name that is recorded by the US Department of Treasury. As part of the Plan Sponsor Agreement and in accordance with 42 C.F.R. §423.892 of Federal regulations, Plan Sponsors are required to provide CMS with notice at least 60 days prior to the anticipated effective date.
The Authorized Representative is the only user role who can initiate a change of Plan Sponsor EIN or Company Name.
To begin the process, the Authorized Representative currently registered in the RDS Secure Website must send an email to CMS' RDS Center at RDS@cms.hhs.gov and include the following required information.
Note: If the change of ownership has already taken place, the email must be sent from the individual acting as the Plan Sponsor authority (Authorized Representative) for the entity identified as the "new" Plan Sponsor. The email must include the person's role or title.
Provide the following information in the e-mail:
Note: For applications that have not yet been approved, if there was any change to the Prescription Drug Benefits, Cost-Sharing, Premium Contributions, or Retiree Population, Actuarial Equivalence Tests must be re-performed in a manner consistent with Federal regulations and guidance for each application that the Plan Sponsor was impacted by the change, and where the Actuarial Attestation did not take into account the change.
If any Benefit Option fails the Actuarial Equivalence Test, the Plan Sponsor must report it to CMS' RDS Center. For all applications (both approved and not yet approved), if every Benefit Option passes the Actuarial Equivalence Test, the Plan Sponsor must maintain the Actuary's work papers demonstrating that the tests were performed and produce them upon request.
Supporting documentation is required to substantiate a change of Plan Sponsor EIN or Company Name. You can obtain this information by calling the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at 1-800-829-4933. Scan and attach any additional or supporting documentation concerning the change of ownership or Company Name and/or EIN change to an email to RDS@cms.hhs.gov.
The following forms of documentation are accepted:
The following forms of documentation are not accepted:
Note: The Plan Sponsor Name on the form must be an exact match to the legal name on record with CMS' RDS Center.
When CMS' RDS Center receives the email, the submitted information will be processed, and the Plan Sponsor will be contacted to discuss next steps, details, and instructions.
After a change has been reported to CMS' RDS Center and the change of ownership has been processed in the RDS Secure Website, the old Plan Sponsor ID displays with a status of "Former" on the Dashboard page.
Note: If an RDS Secure Website user tries to access a Plan Sponsor ID designated as "Former" or attempts to start a new application for a Plan Sponsor ID marked as "Former," a warning message appears stating "This Plan Sponsor is designated as 'Former.' You cannot create new applications for this Plan Sponsor."