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CMS' RDS Center will perform system maintenance on the RDS Secure Website on Friday, September 12, 2025, beginning at 9:00PM ET and concluding Saturday, September 13, 2025, at 10:00AM ET. The SWS will be available during this time with the following limitations until after system maintenance concludes: Retiree Files uploaded during this time will not appear on the SWS; Weekly Notification Files and Retiree Response Files will not be available for download; and Covered Retiree Lists requested during this time will not be available to view or download. Thank you for your patience.

Announcing New RDS Quick Start Guides!

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CMS' RDS Center is pleased to announce the publication of the new RDS Quick Start Guides, a library of one-page process diagrams illustrating how to complete various tasks within the RDS Secure Website.

In 2019, CMS' RDS Center conducted Listening Sessions with volunteers from the RDS Plan Sponsor community and their Vendors. These sessions were coordinated as part of our continuing modernization effort, with the goal of learning more about users' experience when interacting with the Secure Website, as well as identifying potential areas of improvement.

As a direct result of the feedback we received from users during those sessions, CMS' RDS Center developed new Quick Start Guides. These support materials are designed to show RDS Secure Website users how to complete various activities in the Secure Website that are vital to participating in the RDS Program, using simple, concise, one-page visual diagrams. Each guide contains a combination of step-by-step instructions, screenshots, and other helpful graphics that maximize ease of use and understanding.

The Quick Start Guides can be found under Resource Library > Quick Start Guides. Links to the new Quick Start Guides will also be added to the RDS User Guide in the sections to which they are associated.

The first two Quick Start Guide entries address activating and resetting Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for your RDS Secure Website user account, which is critical to ensuring your Plan Sponsor meets its deadlines and experiences all the benefits of participating in the RDS Program. Each link displays a two-page Quick Start Guide: one page dedicated to Apple/iOS users and one page dedicated to Android users.

New guides will be added periodically and users will be notified when they are available.

If you would like to suggest a topic for a new Quick Start Guide, please email your suggestions and feedback to rds@cms.hhs.gov. We would like to hear from you!