CMS Releases Draft QRS And QHP Enrollee Experience Call Letter

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a draft 2016 call letter proposing refinements to the Quality Rating System (QRS) and Qualified Health Plan (QHP) Enrollee Experience Survey. The QRS and QHP Enrollee Experience Survey are used to derive a star rating that will be displayed (for 2017 only in five states) on the marketplace shopping site to signal to consumers the quality of the alternative health plans available to them. The call letter proposes an annual call letter process for future years and minor changes for the 2017 and 2018 rating years. The 2016 draft call letter is being published with a very short turnaround for comments (which are due by July 28, 2016). A final call letter is expected yet this summer. The QRS and QHP Enrollee Survey Guidance and Measure Set Technical Specifications for 2017, reflecting the final call letter, will be published in the fall. In the future, draft call letters will be published in December or January for the following year with a 30-day comment period, a final call letter will be published in March or April, and the technical guidance will be published in September. The call letter could contain refinements to rating methodology for the current ratings year, but refinements to participation requirements, measure set, significant rating methodology changes, or other significant program requirements, would not take effect until the following ratings year. For example, the 2017 call letter, published in draf...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage CMS ERISA qualified health plans quality rating system Source Type: blogs