Title 42

SECTION 438.54

438.54 Managed care enrollment.

§ 438.54 Managed care enrollment.

(a) Applicability. The provisions of this section apply to all Medicaid managed care programs which operate under any authority in the Act.

(b) General rule. The State must have an enrollment system for its managed care programs, voluntary and mandatory, as appropriate.

(1) Voluntary managed care programs are those where one or more groups of beneficiaries as enumerated in section of 1905(a) of the Act have the option to either enroll in a MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity, or remain enrolled in FFS to receive Medicaid covered benefits.

(2) Mandatory managed care programs are those where one or more groups of beneficiaries as enumerated in section 1905(a) of the Act must enroll in a MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity to receive covered Medicaid benefits.

(3) States must provide the demographic information listed in § 438.340(b)(6) for each Medicaid enrollee to the individual's MCO, PIHP, PAHP, or PCCM entity at the time of enrollment.

(c) Voluntary managed care programs. (1) States that have a voluntary managed care program must have an enrollment system that:

(i) Provides an enrollment choice period during which potential enrollees may make an active choice of delivery system and, if needed, choice of an MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity before enrollment is effectuated; or

(ii) Employs a passive enrollment process in which the State enrolls the potential enrollee into a MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity and simultaneously provides a period of time for the enrollee to make an active choice of delivery system and, if needed, to maintain enrollment in the MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity passively assigned or to select a different MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity.

(2) A State must provide potential enrollees the opportunity to actively elect to receive covered services through the managed care or FFS delivery system. If the potential enrollee elects to receive covered services through the managed care delivery system, the potential enrollee must then also select a MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity.

(i) If the State does not use a passive enrollment process and the potential enrollee does not make an active choice during the period allowed by the state, then the potential enrollee will continue to receive covered services through the FFS delivery system.

(ii) If the State uses a passive enrollment process, the potential enrollee must select either to accept the MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity selected for them by the State's passive enrollment process, select a different MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity, or elect to receive covered services through the FFS delivery system. If the potential enrollee does not make an active choice during the time allowed by the state, the potential enrollee will remain enrolled with the MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity selected by the passive enrollment process.

(3) The State must provide informational notices to each potential enrollee at the time the potential enrollee first becomes eligible to enroll in a managed care program and within a timeframe that enables the potential enrollee to use the information in choosing among available delivery system and/or managed care plan options. The notices must:

(i) Clearly explain (as relevant to the State's managed care program) the implications to the potential enrollee of: not making an active choice between managed care and FFS; selecting a different MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity; and accepting the MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity selected by the State;

(ii) Identify the MCOs, PIHPs, PAHPs, PCCMs or PCCM entities available to the potential enrollee should they elect the managed care delivery system;

(iii) Provide clear instructions for how to make known to the State the enrollee's selection of the FFS delivery system or a MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity;

(iv) Provide a comprehensive explanation of the length of the enrollment period, the 90 day without cause disenrollment period, and all other disenrollment options as specified in § 438.56;

(v) Include the contact information for the beneficiary support system in § 438.71; and

(vi) Comply with the information requirements in § 438.10.

(4) The State's enrollment system must provide that beneficiaries already enrolled in an MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity are given priority to continue that enrollment if the MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity does not have the capacity to accept all those seeking enrollment under the program.

(5) If a State elects to use a passive enrollment process, the process must assign beneficiaries to a qualified MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity. To be a qualified MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity, it must:

(i) Not be subject to the intermediate sanction described in § 438.702(a)(4); and

(ii) Have capacity to enroll beneficiaries.

(6) A passive enrollment process must seek to preserve existing provider-beneficiary relationships and relationships with providers that have traditionally served Medicaid beneficiaries.

(i) An “existing provider-beneficiary relationship” is one in which the provider was a main source of Medicaid services for the beneficiary during the previous year. This may be established through State records of previous managed care enrollment or FFS experience, encounter data, or through contact with the beneficiary.

(ii) A provider is considered to have “traditionally served” Medicaid beneficiaries if it has experience in serving the Medicaid population.

(7) If the approach in paragraph (c)(6) of this section is not possible, the State must distribute the beneficiaries equitably among the MCOs, PIHPs, PAHPs, PCCMs and PCCM entities.

(i) The State may not arbitrarily exclude any MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity from being considered.

(ii) The State may consider additional criteria to conduct the passive enrollment process, including the enrollment preferences of family members, previous plan assignment of the beneficiary, quality assurance and improvement performance, procurement evaluation elements, accessibility of provider offices for people with disabilities (when appropriate), and other reasonable criteria that support the objectives of the managed care program.

(8) If a passive enrollment process is used and the enrollee does not elect to be enrolled into the FFS delivery system, the State must send a notice to the enrollee:

(i) Confirming that the enrollee's time to elect to enroll in the FFS delivery system has ended and that the enrollee will remain enrolled in the managed care delivery system for the remainder of the enrollment period unless one of the disenrollment reasons specified in § 438.56 applies.

(ii) Clearly and fully explaining the enrollee's right, and process to follow, to disenroll from the passively assigned MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity and select a different MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity within 90 days from the effective date of the enrollment or for any reason specified in § 438.56(d)(2).

(iii) Within 5 calendar days of the end of the time allowed for making the delivery system selection.

(d) Mandatory managed care programs. (1) States must have an enrollment system for a mandatory managed care program that includes the elements specified in paragraphs (d)(2) through (8) of this section.

(2) The State's enrollment system must implement enrollment in a MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity as follows:

(i) If the State does not use a passive enrollment process and the potential enrollee does not make an active choice of a MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity during the period allowed by the State, the potential enrollee will be enrolled into a MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity selected by the State's default process.

(ii) If the State uses a passive enrollment process, the potential enrollee must either accept the MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity selected by the State's passive enrollment process or select a different MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity. If the potential enrollee does not make an active choice during the time allowed by the State, the MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity selected by the passive enrollment process will remain effective.

(3) A State must provide informational notices to each potential enrollee at the time the potential enrollee first becomes eligible to enroll in a managed care program and within a timeframe that enables the potential enrollee to use the information in choosing among available managed care plans. The notices must:

(i) Include the MCOs, PIHPs, PAHPs, PCCMs, or PCCM entities available to the potential enrollee;

(ii) Provide clear instructions for how to make known to the State the enrollee's selection of a MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity;

(iii) Clearly explain the implications to the potential enrollee of not making an active choice of an MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity as well as the implications of making an active choice of an MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity;

(iv) Provide a comprehensive explanation of the length of the enrollment period, the 90 day without cause disenrollment period, and all other disenrollment options as specified in § 438.56;

(v) Include the contact information for the beneficiary support system in § 438.71; and

(vi) Comply with the information requirements in § 438.10.

(4) Priority for enrollment. The State's enrollment system must provide that beneficiaries already enrolled in an MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity are given priority to continue that enrollment if the MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity does not have the capacity to accept all those seeking enrollment under the program.

(5) Enrollment by default. For potential enrollees that do not select an MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entities during the period allowed by the state, the State must have a default enrollment process for assigning those beneficiaries to qualified MCOs, PIHPs, PAHPs, PCCMs and PCCM entities. To be a qualified MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity, it must:

(i) Not be subject to the intermediate sanction described in § 438.702(a)(4); and

(ii) Have capacity to enroll beneficiaries.

(6) Passive enrollment. For States that use a passive enrollment process, the process must assign potential enrollees to qualified MCOs, PIHPs, PAHPs, PCCMs and PCCM entities. To be a qualified MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity, it must:

(i) Not be subject to the intermediate sanction described in § 438.702(a)(4); and

(ii) Have capacity to enroll beneficiaries.

(7) The passive and default enrollment processes must seek to preserve existing provider-beneficiary relationships and relationships with providers that have traditionally served Medicaid beneficiaries.

(ii) A provider is considered to have “traditionally served” Medicaid beneficiaries if it has experience in serving the Medicaid population.

(8) If the approach in paragraph (d)(7) of this section is not possible, the State must distribute the beneficiaries equitably among the MCOs, PIHPs, PAHPs, PCCMs and PCCM entities available to enroll them.

(i) The State may not arbitrarily exclude any MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity from being considered; and

(ii) The State may consider additional criteria to conduct the default enrollment process, including the enrollment preferences of family members, previous plan assignment of the beneficiary, quality assurance and improvement performance, procurement evaluation elements, accessibility of provider offices for people with disabilities (when appropriate), and other reasonable criteria related to a beneficiary's experience with the Medicaid program.

[81 FR 27853, May 6, 2016, as amended at 85 FR 72840, Nov. 13, 2020]