09/30/2010

September RDS CIG Webinar

The RDS Community Information Group (CIG) hosted a webinar on Wednesday, September 15, 2010.

Discussion topics included:

Application and Reconciliation Reminders
Plan Sponsors were advised of approaching Application and Reconciliation Deadlines.  Reminders about critical CMS' RDS Center timelines related to Registration and validation of key user roles were given. Methods of keeping user roles current were offered, as well as rules for maintaining and protecting your RDS Secure Website Login ID, Password, Security Questions and Answers, and valid email addresses. RDS Secure Website users were also reminded, per Federal law, never to share their RDS Secure Website Login ID or Password with any other individual.

Uploading and Processing Retiree Files
Instructions for uploading the Valid Initial Retiree List and maintaining the Covered Retiree List (CRL) throughout the Plan Year were presented. Reason Code 24 (Coverage Dates Outside the Plan Year) and Reason Code 29 (File Rejected – No Authority) were defined, and tips were provided on how to avoid receiving these Reason Codes.

HICN/SSN Mismatch
Plan Sponsors were directed to make sure that the Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) and Social Security Number (SSN) for each retiree record match, or, if in doubt, to submit the one they are confident is valid. Spaces, dashes, or invalid data should not be entered in any field in the retiree file.

Upcoming System Changes
Updates on the availability of the Quick Access Reporting feature, changes to Reconciliation Step 6 and Step 7, and tips to remove special characters in an RDS Secure Website Login ID were delivered.

Interim Payment Process
The third and final installment in a series on the Interim Payment process was presented. Topics included building a Payment Request, including and excluding Benefit Options, negative Interim Payment Requests, and checking the status of a Payment Request. Tutorials on Payment Determination and viewing Payment Events on the RDS Secure Website were also offered. For more assistance on Interim Payments, Plan Sponsors were directed to RDS CIG Educational Articles and How Tos located on the RDS Program Website.

Q&A
Key questions and suggestions submitted to the CIG mailbox (RDSCIG@cms.hhs.gov) prior to the webinar were discussed and answered.

RDS CIG encourages Plan Sponsors to send further inquiries to the RDSCIG@cms.hhs.gov mailbox.

Streaming Audio
The September RDS CIG Webinar offered streaming audio over the internet. 60% of the attendees used the streaming audio instead of dialing-in on the telephone. CMS' RDS Center will continue to offer this feature for future webinars.

See you on October 20th!
CMS' RDS Center looks forward to your attendance at the next RDS CIG monthly webinar on October 20, 2010.

Plan Sponsor and Vendor community participation and feedback contribute to the success of the RDS Program.