Announcements

On April 7, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Cost Threshold and Cost Limit amounts that apply to Plan Sponsors participating in CMS' Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) Program, with qualified prescription drug plans that end in 2026, as well as the parameters for Medicare Part D plans in 2026. Pursuant to 42 CFR 423.886(b)(3), the cost threshold and cost limit for qualified retiree prescription drug plans are updated using the Annual Percentage Increase.

CMS’ RDS Center would like to remind RDS Secure Website users that it is a violation of Federal law to share or transfer user accounts or login and password information. 

CMS’ RDS Center would like to remind the Plan Sponsor community, and the Vendors who support them, about important RDS Program policies regarding Vendor Technical Contacts.

CMS’ Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) Center would like to remind the Plan Sponsor community that, pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 423.888, RDS subsidy payment “is conditioned on provision of accurate information.” If a Plan Sponsor discovers after, completion of Reconciliation for an application, that it agreed to inaccurate retiree and/or cost data, that Plan Sponsor must report the discrepancy to CMS’ RDS Center.

CMS' RDS Center will be performing system maintenance on the RDS Secure Website on Friday, April 19, 2024, beginning at 9:00PM ET and concluding Saturday, April 20, 2024, at 10:00AM ET.

On April 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Cost Threshold and Cost Limit amounts that apply to Plan Sponsors participating in CMS' Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) Program, with qualified prescription drug plans that end in 2025, as well as the parameters for Medicare Part D plans in 2025. Pursuant to 42 CFR 423.886(b)(3), the cost threshold and cost limit for qualified retiree prescription drug plans are updated using the Annual Percentage Increase.

The 2025 Cost Threshold and Cost Limit amounts are as follows:

CMS’ RDS Center would like to remind the Plan Sponsor community that, pursuant to 42 C.F.R. 423.888, there are multiple scenarios during the Payment Validation process that can delay or stop a payment request from being processed.

CMS’ RDS Center would like to remind the Plan Sponsor community that, pursuant to §423.888, there are multiple scenarios during the Payment Validation process that can delay or stop a payment request from being processed.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) Program has changed our policy regarding RDS Secure Website user account password resets. To give users more flexibility to manage user accounts and avoid inconvenience caused by locked user accounts, CMS’ RDS Center has increased the number of password resets allowed each day.

The CMS’ RDS Center would like to announce a new text (SMS) message feature has been added to improve the RDS Secure Website login process.