§ 422.308 - Adjustments to capitation rates, benchmarks, bids, and payments.

§ 422.308 Adjustments to capitation rates, benchmarks, bids, and payments.

CMS performs the following calculations and adjustments to determine rates and payments:

(a) National per capita growth percentage.

(1) The national per capita growth percentage for a year, applied under § 422.306, is CMS' estimate of the rate of growth in per capita expenditures under this title for an individual entitled to benefits under Part A and enrolled under Part B. CMS may make separate estimates for aged enrollees, disabled enrollees, and enrollees who have ESRD.

(2) The amount calculated in paragraph (a)(1) of this section must exclude expenditures attributable to sections 1848(a)(7) and (o) and sections 1886(b)(3)(B)(ix) and (n) of the Act.

(b) Adjustment for over or under projection of national per capita growth percentages. CMS will adjust the minimum percentage increase rate at § 422.306(a)(2) and the adjusted average per capita cost rate at § 422.306(b)(2) for the previous year to reflect any differences between the projected national per capita growth percentages for that year and previous years, and the current estimates of those percentages for those years. CMS will not make this adjustment for years before 2004.

(c) Risk adjustment -

(1) General rule. CMS will adjust the payment amounts under § 422.304(a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3) for age, gender, disability status, institutional status, and other factors CMS determines to be appropriate, including health status, in order to ensure actuarial equivalence. CMS may add to, modify, or substitute for risk adjustment factors if those changes will improve the determination of actuarial equivalence.

(2) Risk adjustment: Health status -

(i) Data collection. To adjust for health status, CMS applies a risk factor based on data obtained in accordance with § 422.310.

(ii) Implementation. CMS applies a risk factor that incorporates inpatient hospital and ambulatory risk adjustment data. This factor is phased as follows:

(A) 100 percent of payments for ESRD MA enrollees in 2005 and succeeding years.

(B) 75 percent of payments for aged and disabled enrollees in 2006.

(C) 100 percent of payments for aged and disabled enrollees in 2007 and succeeding years.

(3) Uniform application. Except as provided for MA RFB plans under § 422.304(c)(3), CMS applies this adjustment factor to all types of plans.

(4) Authority to apply frailty adjustment under PACE payment rules for certain specialized MA plans for special needs individuals.

(i) Application of payment rules. For plan year 2011 and subsequent plan years, in the case of a plan described in paragraph (c)(4)(ii) of this section, the Secretary may apply the payment rules under section 1894(d) of the Act (other than paragraph (3) of that section) rather than the payment rules that would otherwise apply under this part, but only to the extent necessary to reflect the costs of treating high concentrations of frail individuals.

(ii) Plan described. A plan described in this paragraph is a fully integrated dual-eligible special needs plan, as defined at § 422.2, and has a similar average level of frailty (as determined by the Secretary) as the PACE program.

(5) Application of coding adjustment.

(i) In applying the adjustment under paragraph (c)(1) of this section for health status to payment amounts, the Secretary ensures that such adjustment reflects changes in treatment and coding practices in the fee-for-service sector and reflects differences in coding patterns between MA plans and providers under Part A and B to the extent that the Secretary has identified such differences.

(ii) In order to ensure payment accuracy, the Secretary annually conducts an analysis of the differences described in paragraph (c)(5)(i) of this section.

(A) The Secretary completes such analysis by a date necessary to ensure that the results of such analysis are incorporated on a timely basis into the risk scores for 2008 and subsequent years.

(B) In conducting such analysis, the Secretary uses data submitted with respect to 2004 and subsequent years, as available and updated as appropriate.

(iii) In calculating each year's adjustment, the adjustment factor is as follows:

(A) For 2014, not less than the adjustment factor applied for 2010, plus 1.3 percentage points.

(B) For each of the years 2015 through 2018, not less than the adjustment factor applied for the previous year, plus 0.25 percentage points.

(C) For 2019 and each subsequent year, not less than 5.7 percent.

(iv) Such adjustment is applied to risk scores until the Secretary implements risk adjustment using MA diagnostic, cost, and use data.

(6) Improvements to risk adjustment for special needs individuals with chronic health conditions -

(i) General rule. For 2011 and subsequent years, for purposes of the adjustment under paragraph (c)(1) of this section with respect to individuals described in paragraph (c)(6)(ii) of the section, the Secretary uses a risk score that reflects the known underlying risk profile and chronic health status of similar individuals. Such risk score is used instead of the default risk score for new enrollees in MA plans that are not specialized MA plans for special needs individuals (as defined in section 1859(b)(6) of the Act).

(ii) Individuals described. An individual described in this clause is a special needs individual described in section 1859(b)(6)(B)(iii) of the Act who enrolls in a specialized MA plan for special needs individuals on or after January 1, 2011.

(iii) Evaluation. For 2011 and periodically thereafter, the Secretary evaluates and revises the risk adjustment system under this paragraph in order to, as accurately as possible, account for -

(A) Higher medical and care coordination costs associated with frailty, individuals with multiple, comorbid chronic conditions, and individuals with a diagnosis of mental illness; and

(B) Costs that may be associated with higher concentrations of beneficiaries with the conditions specified in paragraph (c)(6)(iii)(A) of this section.

(iv) Publication of evaluation and revisions. The Secretary publishes, as part of an announcement under section 1853(b) of the Act, a description of any evaluation conducted under paragraph (c)(6)(iii) of this section during the preceding year and any revisions made under paragraph (c)(6)(iii) of this section as a result of such evaluation.

(d) Adjustment for intra-area variations. CMS makes the following adjustments to payments.

(1) Intra-regional variations. For payments for an MA regional plan for an MA region, CMS will adjust the payment amount specified at § 422.304(a)(1) and (a)(2) to take into account variations in local payment rates among the different MA local areas included in the region.

(2) Intra-service area variations. For payments to an MA local plan with a service area covering more than one MA local area (county), CMS will adjust the payment amount specified in § 422.304(a)(1) and (a)(2) to take into account variations in local payment rates among the different MA local areas included in the plan's service area.

(e) Adjustment relating to risk adjustment: the government premium adjustment. CMS will adjust payments to an MA plan as necessary to ensure that the sum of CMS' monthly payment made under § 422.304(a) and the plan's monthly basic beneficiary premium equals the unadjusted MA statutory non-drug bid amount, adjusted for risk and for intra-area or intra-regional payment variation.

(f) Adjustment of payments to reflect number of Medicare enrollees -

(1) General rule. CMS adjusts payments retroactively to take into account any difference between the actual number of Medicare enrollees and the number on which it based an advance monthly payment.

(2) Special rules for certain enrollees.

(i) Subject to paragraph (f)(2)(ii) of this section, CMS may make adjustments, for a period (not to exceed 90 days) that begins when a beneficiary elects a group health plan (as defined in § 411.1010) offered by an MA organization, and ends when the beneficiary is enrolled in an MA plan offered by the MA organization.

(ii) CMS does not make an adjustment unless the beneficiary certifies that, at the time of enrollment under the MA plan, he or she received from the organization the disclosure statement specified in § 422.111.

(g) Adjustment for national coverage determination (NCD) services and legislative changes in benefits. If CMS determines that the cost of furnishing an NCD service or legislative change in benefits is significant, as defined in § 422.109, CMS will adjust capitation rates, or make other payment adjustments, to account for the cost of the service or legislative change in benefits. Until the new capitation rates are in effect, the MA organization will be paid for the significant cost NCD service or legislative change in benefits on a fee-for-service basis as provided under § 422.109(b).

(h) Adjustments to payments to regional MA plans for purposes of risk corridor payments. For the purpose of calculation of risk corridors under § 422.458, MA organizations offering regional MA plans in 2006 and/or 2007 must submit, after the end of a contract year and before a date CMS specifies, the following information:

(1) Actual allowable costs (defined in § 422.458(a)) for the previous contract year.

(2) The portion of the costs attributable to administrative expenses incurred in providing these benefits.

(3) The total costs for providing rebatable integrated benefits (as defined in § 422.458(a)) and the portion of the costs that is attributable to administrative expenses in addition to the administrative expenses described in paragraph (h)(2) of this section.

[70 FR 4729, Jan. 28, 2005, as amended at 75 FR 44564, July 28, 2010; 76 FR 21567, Apr. 15, 2011]