Title 42

SECTION 422.106

422.106 Coordination of benefits with employer or union group health plans and Medicaid.

§ 422.106 Coordination of benefits with employer or union group health plans and Medicaid.

(a) General rule. If an MA organization contracts with an employer, labor organization, or the trustees of a fund established by one or more employers or labor organizations that cover enrollees in an MA plan, or contracts with a State Medicaid agency to provide Medicaid benefits to individuals who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, and who are enrolled in an MA plan, the enrollees must be provided the same benefits as all other enrollees in the MA plan, with the employer, labor organization, fund trustees, or Medicaid benefits supplementing the MA plan benefits. Jurisdiction regulating benefits under these circumstances is as follows:

(1) All requirements of this part that apply to the MA program apply to the MA plan coverage and benefits provided to enrollees eligible for benefits under an employer, labor organization, trustees of a fund established by one or more employers or labor organizations, or Medicaid contract.

(2) Employer benefits that complement an MA plan, which are not part of the MA plan, are not subject to review or approval by CMS.

(3) Medicaid benefits are not reviewed under this part, but are subject to appropriate CMS review under the Medicaid program. MA plan benefits provided to individuals entitled to Medicaid benefits provided by the MA organization under a contract with the State Medicaid agency are subject to MA rules and requirements.

(b) Examples. Permissible employer, labor organization, benefit fund trustee, or Medicaid plan benefits include the following:

(1) Payment of a portion or all of the MA basic and supplemental premiums.

(2) Payment of a portion or all of other cost-sharing amounts approved for the MA plan.

(3) Other employer-sponsored benefits that may require additional premium and cost-sharing, or other benefits provided by the organization under a contract with the State Medicaid agency.

(c) Waiver or modification of contracts with MA organizations. (1) MA organizations may request, in writing, from CMS, a waiver or modification of those requirements in this part that hinder the design of, the offering of, or the enrollment in, MA plans under contracts between MA organizations and employers, labor organizations, or the trustees of funds established by one or more employers or labor organizations to furnish benefits to the entity's employees, former employees, or members or former members of the labor organizations.

(2) Approved waivers or modifications under this paragraph granted to any MA organization may be used by any other similarly situated MA organization in developing its bid.

(d) Employer sponsored MA plans for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2006. (1) CMS may waive or modify any requirement in this part or Part D that hinders the design of, the offering of, or the enrollment in, an employer-sponsored group MA plan (including an MA-PD plan) offered by one or more employers, labor organizations, or the trustees of a fund established by one or more employers or labor organizations (or combination thereof), or that is offered, sponsored or administered by an entity on behalf of one or more employers or labor organizations, to furnish benefits to the employers' employees, former employees (or combination thereof) or members or former members (or combination thereof) of the labor organizations. Any entity seeking to offer, sponsor, or administer such an MA plan described in this paragraph may request, in writing, from CMS, a waiver or modification of requirements in this part that hinder the design of, the offering of, or the enrollment in, such MA plan.

(2) An MA plan described in this paragraph may restrict the enrollment of individuals in that plan to individuals who are beneficiaries and participants in that plan.

(3) Approved waivers or modifications under this paragraph granted to any MA plan may be used by any other similarly situated MA plan in developing its bid.

(4) An employer-sponsored group MA plan means MA coverage offered to retirees who are Medicare eligible individuals under employment-based retiree health coverage, as defined in paragraph (d)(5) of this section, approved by CMS as an MA plan.

(5) Employment-based retiree coverage means coverage of health care costs under a group health plan, as defined in paragraph (d)(6) of this section, based on an individual's status as a retired participant in the plan, or as the spouse or dependent of a retired participant. The term includes coverage provided by voluntary insurance coverage, or coverage as a result of a statutory or contractual obligation.

(6) Group health plans include plans as defined in section 607(1) of ERISA, (29 U.S.C. 1167(1)). They also include the following plans:

(i) A Federal or State governmental plan, which is a plan providing medical care that is established or maintained for its employees by the Government of the United States, by the government of any State or political subdivision of a State (including a county or local government), or by any agency or instrumentality or any of the foregoing, including a health benefits plan offered under 5 U.S.C. 89 (the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP)).

(ii) A collectively bargained plan, which is a plan providing medical care that is established or maintained under or by one or more collective bargaining agreements.

(iii) A church plan, which is a plan providing medical care that is established and maintained for its employees or their beneficiaries by a church or by a convention or association of churches that is exempt from tax under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501).

(iv) Any of the following plans:

(A) An account-based medical plan such as a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) as defined in Internal Revenue Service Notice 2002-45, 2002-28 I.R.B. 93.

(B) A health Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA) as defined in Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 106(c)(2).

(D) An Archer MSA as defined in Code section 220, to the extent they are subject to ERISA as employee welfare benefit plans providing medical care (or would be subject to ERISA but for the exclusion in ERISA section 4(b), 29 U.S.C.1003(b), for governmental plans or church plans).

[65 FR 40320, June 29, 2000, as amended at 68 FR 50856, Aug. 22, 2003; 70 FR 4721, Jan. 28, 2005; 76 FR 21562, Apr. 15, 2011]