Announcements

Changes have been made to the email accounts used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS’) Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) Program. Effective immediately, Plan Sponsors can only use the RDS@cms.hhs.gov email address to communicate with the RDS Program. 

In the coming months, CMS’ RDS Center will implement an update to the sequestration policy, whereby the mandatory two percent (2%) payment reduction will be applied at each interim payment request rather than applying the reduction only to the final payment. 

Changes have been made to the email accounts used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS’) Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) Program. Effective immediately, Plan Sponsors can only use the RDS@cms.hhs.gov email address to communicate with the RDS Program. 

On September 1, 2023, CMS’ RDS Center will implement two new Reason Codes that will be used to communicate RDS eligibility information during retiree data transfers.

**UPDATED 8/30/2023** The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Enterprise File Transfer (EFT) system will undergo maintenance every weekend included between Saturday, July 28, 2023, through Tuesday, September 5, 2023.

In the coming months, CMS’ RDS Center will implement an update to the sequestration policy, whereby the mandatory two percent (2%) payment reduction will be applied at each interim payment request rather than applying the reduction only to the final payment.

Beginning today, August 3, 2023, CMS’ RDS Center will require users of the RDS Secure Website (SWS) to periodically verify their Registered User Information in order to provide consistent, accurate information and uninterrupted access to the system.

One week from today, on Friday, September 1, 2023, CMS’ RDS Center will implement two new Reason Codes that will be used to communicate RDS eligibility information during retiree data transfers. These codes will support the conditions defined in 42 CFR § 423.4. 

CMS’ RDS Center has published a new Technical Article, Reassigning the Authorized Representative (AR) and Account Manager (AM) Roles. This article contains critical information to keep in mind when changing your Plan Sponsor representatives.

On September 1, 2023, CMS’ RDS Center implemented two new Reason Codes to communicate RDS eligibility information during retiree data transfers. These codes will support the conditions defined in 42 CFR § 423.4.