MA Contract Renewal

60 - MA Contract Renewal (Rev. 79, Issued 02-17-06, Effective Date 02-17-06) MA contracts are renewed annually only if: • CMS informs the MA organization that it authorizes a renewal; • The MA organization has not provided CMS with a notice of intention not to renew; and • Agreement is reached on the bid submitted by the MA organization. CMS will notify each MA organization of its decision whether to authorize the renewal of its MA contract, along with applicable appeal rights, by May 1 of the current contract year. NOTE: CMS annually issues a call letter specifying information concerning the contract renewal process. For information for 2006 contracts, as well as information concerning the transition to plans with contracts beginning in 2006, view our call letter at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HealthPlansGenInfo. The call letter includes the HPMS plan crosswalk which specifies MA plan renewal guidelines and operational instructions by designating the relationships between plans offered in 2005 to those being offered in 2006.