A Cost Reporter is an individual or a Vendor that is responsible for submitting drug cost data to CMS' RDS Center. During the Payment Setup process, Plan Sponsors identify Cost Reporters for each Benefit Option defined within an application. Plan Sponsors may choose to assign any of the following as Cost Reporters: the Account Manager, any existing Designee already assigned to the application, any new Designee added to the application, or a Vendor. Cost Reporters are assigned to an application, and Benefit Options are then assigned to Cost Reporters. A Cost Reporter must be assigned to each Benefit Option during Payment Setup.
Two sources can submit cost data to CMS’ RDS Center: Plan Sponsor and Vendor(s). A Plan Sponsor is considered a single source regardless of the number of individual Cost Reporters assigned to the Plan Sponsor's application. Each Vendor is considered a single source regardless of the number of individual Cost Reporters assigned to the Vendor.
Note: Plan Sponsor Cost Reporters and Vendor Cost Reporters are separate sources. Source becomes particularly important if multiple Cost Reporters report costs on the same Benefit Option for the same plan month. Cost data reported by the same source replaces previously submitted data, while cost data reported by different sources are added together.