CMS Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office (MMCO) December Announcements

Updates The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office (MMCO) is pleased to announce the following update: National Influenza Vaccination Week: It’s Not Too Late to Get the Flu Shot! State Phased-Down Billing Manual Release for Public Comment Five Key Policy Topics from the Updated Manual on State Payment of Medicare Premiums Webinar National Influenza Vaccination Week: It’s Not Too Late to Get the Flu Shot Join CMS to storm social media and email listservs to promote flu vaccines during National Influenza Vaccinations Week December 6 – 12 on Wednesday, December 9 using the hashtag #FightFlu! It’s more important than ever for everyone to do their part to help prevent the spread of illnesses like the flu. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer people are getting vaccines which puts their communities at greater risk for other preventable diseases, like the flu. When people get the flu shot, it helps protect them and keeps them from spreading the flu to others.   Resources Draft Tweets, Facebook posts, and listserv language at: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/cms-mmco-fightflu-partner-resources.pdf Find vaccination resources for racial and ethnic minority patients, as well as resources for providers and partners that serve these populations at go.cms.gov/omhflu. Visit cms.gov/flu for a one-stop shop to help you find CMS’s flu vaccination information and resources.   State Phased-Down Billing Manual Release for Public Comment CMS has posted for public comment a draft updated State Phased-Down Billing Manual. The prior version of this manual had not been fully updated since the early 2000s and was not available online. The draft updates information and instructions for states on operations concerning the phased down contribution process.  Through this process, states make monthly payments to CMS, representing a portion of the Medicare Part D drug expenditures for dually eligible beneficiaries.  Please use this table to submit comments on the draft manual.  Send comments to MMCO_MMA@cms.hhs.gov. We will welcome comments through 5:00 pm ET on January 29, 2021. The draft manual is available at: https://www.cms.gov/medicare-medicaid-coordination/medicare-medicaid-coordination-office/state-phased-down-billing.   Five Key Policy Topics from the Updated Manual on State Payment of Medicare Premiums Webinar In November, CMS posted a webinar on Five Key Policy Topics from the Updated Manual on State Payment of Medicare Premiums.  We designed this webinar for state policy staff to introduce five key policy topics addressed in the updated Manual for State Payment of Medicare Premiums (formerly called “State Buy-in Manual”) released on September 8, 2020. The manual updates information and instructions to states on federal policy, operations, and systems concerning the payment of Medicare Parts A and B premiums (or buy-in) for individuals dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. The manual and other technical assistance products are part of CMS’ ongoing work to improve access to care and customer experiences. The webinar can be viewed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/tNTBO3I0LFw.  The manual and other training material is available at: https://www.cms.gov/medicare-medicaid-coordination/medicare-medicaid-coordination-office/state-payment-medicare-premiums.