During the CMS Spring Conference on May 1, 2019, CMS reviewed some of the revisions that are being made to Plan Finder. The redesigned Plan Finder will be used this fall for the annual enrollment period and most of the changes are designed to improve the user experience. However, plans will experience some changes as well.
- Primary changes for MA plans:
- Pricing data will be uploaded to HPMS, not Plan Finder or Plan Finder backend
- Plan Preview functions will all be moved to HPMS
- Enrollment transactions / Online Enrollment Center will be done through HPMS
CMS is tracking 2020 policy changes that may require additional changes to the Plan Finder. The 2019 version of Plan Finder is being used through the summer, but 2020 changes including step therapy and supplemental benefit changes for 2020 will be added in the Fall. In addition to being aware of the operational changes, Plans should ensure sales agents are familiar with the new Plan Finder functionality as they talk with prospective members.
During this presentation, CMS also noted mobile optimization is a planned improvement to Plan Finder, citing that 26% of Medicare.gov visitors use mobile devices, up 44% from 2017. Plans whose websites are not mobile friendly should consider this in the context of their members’ and potential members’ user experience.
