The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the second part of its 2022 Medicare Advantage advance notice three months earlier than usual to help Medicare Advantage (MA) plans prepare their bids for 2022.
CMS on Friday issued Part 2 of the 2022 Medicare Advantage and Part D Advance Notice to provide MA plans and prescription drug plans with earlier notification of proposed payment changes so they have more time to better address 2022 plan costs in light of COVID-19.
Part 1, which outlined changes to the Part C CMS-Hierarchical Condition Categories (HCC) risk adjustment model and the use of encounter data for 2022, was released in mid-September.
In a fact sheet, CMS said that it expects:
- Medicare costs will grow by 4.55 percent in 2022 compared to 2021
- MA plans will see an increase in revenue by 2.82 percent
- Risk scores will be adjusted by 5.9 percent for coding intensity (the minimum allowed by law)
The agency also said in the Advance Notice that it seeks input on how to improve Star ratings and a potential COVID-19 vaccine.
In addition, CMS indicated it plans to:
- Reassess how it calculates the MA coding pattern and level of adjustment for 2023 and beyond
- Consider a proposal to revise the MA ratebook to base it on data about beneficiaries with Part A and Part B instead of beneficiaries with Part A or Part B
Public comments on both part of the Advance Notice must be submitted by Nov. 30. CMS intends to finalize the 2022 rate announcement by April 5, 2021.