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Last week, the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CIIO) released its Draft Letter to Issuers in the Federally-Facilitated Marketplaces (FFMs) for Plan Year 2018. Comments are due by Dec. 1.

As members of the Better Medicare Alliance (BMA), NADP is providing the newly released interactive online map representing data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of beneficiary enrollment in Medicare Advantage, also known as Medicare Part C, by Congressional district.

Federal lawmakers are negotiating surprise billing legislation for passage before Medicaid and Medicare extenders expire on May 22. Congress has been working on surprise billing reform for more than a year but competing interests and opinions on settling out of network billing disputes have stalled progress.

On Friday, April 23 President Trump signed H.R.266 the “Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act” into law, extending stimulus programs from the CARES Act. The law adds an additional $484 billion to the initial $2.2 trillion CARES package, with most new funds going to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Health and Human Services (HHS) Provider Relief Fund.

On June 25, NADP received a letter from Director of the Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) Randy Pate, in response to NADP’s joint letter to the Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, which urged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to “provide the option of purchasing dental coverage independent of medical coverage on the federal health insurance Marketplace.” The letter from NADP presented a new perspective on the independent purchase of dental plans on exchanges, bringing to the foreground the needs of kidney and transplant patients, who require dental treatment before and after surgery.

On Aug. 11, the Small Business Administration (SBA) updated the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) with further clarity on the inclusion of dental benefits premiums in the definition of “payroll costs.” Inclusion in the definition of payroll costs allows employer dental premium payments using PPP loans to count towards loan forgiveness.

The EDI Work Group continues to promote the use of electronic transactions. During the WorkGroup’s last meeting it was decided to propose and submit a new Remittance Advice Remark Code (RARC) to the X 12 Code Maintenance Committee (CMC).

On the week of Feb. 16 , the House Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce committees held mark-ups for their respective sections of “Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2021” (S. Con. Res. 5), the planned $1.9 trillion COVID relief package. The various House Committee bills were later combined into one package.

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In order to track changes in attitudes, expectations and perceptions associated with the purchase of dental coverage and attitudes toward dental health, NADP is again planning a survey of individuals responsible for the purchase of group dental benefits.