Some big news for your clients who experienced problems with Medicare enrollment as a result of not being able to get in touch with Social Security when their phone lines were disrupted…
CMS is offering limited equitable relief for people who were unable to submit timely premium-Part A or B enrollment or disenrollment requests. See below & the SSA policy manual for more info:
https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/reference.nsf/links/04012022122513PM
Brandy Bauer
(she, her, hers)
Director, MIPPA Resource Center
571-527-3911
ncoa.org
| @NCOAging
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Effective Dates: April 1, 2022 - Present Previous | Next
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Identification Number: |
EM-22020 |
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Intended Audience: |
All RCs/ARCs/ADs/FOs/TSCs/PSCs/OCO/OCO-CSTs/OHO |
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Originating Office: |
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) |
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Title: |
Limited Availability of Equitable Relief - Medicare Enrollment/Disenrollment for Beneficiaries Unable to Contact SSA’s National 800 Network Number (N8NN) or Field Office (FO) General Inquiry (GI) Lines |
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Type: |
EM - Emergency Messages |
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Program: |
Medicare |
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Retention Date: 12/30/2022
Limited Availability of Equitable Relief - Medicare Enrollment/Disenrollment for Beneficiaries Unable to Contact SSA’s National 800 Network Number (N8NN) or Field Office (FO) General Inquiry (GI) Lines
A. Background
Recent systemic technical issues surrounding SSA’s National 800 Network Number (N8NN) and Field Office general inquiry phone lines may have caused difficulties for some beneficiaries attempting to contact SSA, including those seeking to submit Medicare enrollment or disenrollment requests. Therefore, anyone who was unable to enroll due to SSA’s telephone issues after January 1, 2022, will be granted additional time, through December 30, 2022, to enroll. SSA is currently working to resolve the phone issues with their vendors.
Given recent technical issues, CMS is providing equitable relief to beneficiaries who could not submit premium-Part A or Part B enrollment or disenrollment requests timely. This relief
applies to the 2022 General Enrollment Period (GEP), Initial Enrollment Period (IEP), and Special Enrollment Period (SEP).
B. Limited availability of equitable relief
Typically, the beneficiary must submit a timely request to enroll in Medicare Premium-Part A (Hospital Insurance), Part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), or both within an applicable enrollment period as outlined in HI 00801.133, HI 00805.010, HI 00805.130, and HI 00805.275. For beneficiaries who CMS automatically enrolled in Part B, he or she must request to refuse coverage following the rules outlined in HI 00805.055 and HI 00805.080.
Beginning April 1, 2022, consider equitable relief
on a case-by-case basis for beneficiaries who allege difficulties submitting timely 2022 GEP, IEP, or SEP enrollment requests via phone and fax. When making a favorable equitable relief determination, consider
the late GEP, IEP, or SEP enrollment filed timely.
This consideration of equitable relief ends December 30, 2022.