Annual MA capitation rate means a county payment rate for an MA local area (county) for a calendar year. The terms “per capita rate” and “capitation rate” are used interchangeably to refer to the annual MA capitation rate.

Low enrollment contract means a contract that could not undertake Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) and Health Outcome Survey (HOS) data collections because of a lack of a sufficient number of enrollees to reliably measure the performance of the health plan.

MA local area means a payment area consisting of county or equivalent area specified by CMS.

MA monthly basic beneficiary premium means the premium amount (if any) an MA plan (except an MSA plan) charges an enrollee for basic benefits as defined in § 422.100(c)(1), and is calculated as described at § 422.262.

MA monthly MSA premium means the amount of the plan premium for coverage of basic benefits as defined in § 422.100(c)(1) through an MSA plan, as set forth at § 422.254(e).

MA monthly prescription drug beneficiary premium is the MA-PD plan base beneficiary premium, defined at section 1860D-13(a)(2) of the Act, as adjusted to reflect the difference between the plan's bid and the national average bid (as described in § 422.256(c)) less the amount of rebate the MA-PD plan elects to apply, as described at § 422.266(b)(2).

MA monthly supplemental beneficiary premium is the portion of the plan bid attributable to mandatory and/or optional supplemental health care benefits described under § 422.102, less the amount of beneficiary rebate the plan elects to apply to a mandatory supplemental benefit, as described at § 422.266(b)(1).

MA-PD plan means an MA local or regional plan that provides prescription drug coverage under Part D of Title XVIII of the Social Security Act.

Monthly aggregate bid amount means the total monthly plan bid amount for coverage of an MA eligible beneficiary with a nationally average risk profile for the factors described in § 422.308(c), and this amount is comprised of the following:

New MA plan means a plan that meets the following:

Plan basic cost sharing means cost sharing that would be charged by a plan for basic benefits as defined in § 422.100(c)(1) before any reductions resulting from mandatory supplemental benefits.

Unadjusted MA area-specific non-drug monthly benchmark amount means, for local MA plans serving one county, the county capitation rate CMS publishes annually that reflects the nationally average risk profile for the risk factors CMS applies to payment calculations as set forth at § 422.308(c) of this part, (that is, a standardized benchmark). For local MA plans serving multiple counties it is the weighted average of county rates in a plan's service area, weighted by the plan's projected enrollment per county. The rules for determining county capitation rates are specific to a time period, as set forth at § 422.258(a). Effective 2012, the MA area-specific non-drug monthly benchmark amount is called the blended benchmark amount, and is determined according to the rules set forth under § 422.258(d) of this part.

Unadjusted MA region-specific non-drug monthly benchmark amount means, for MA regional plans, the amount described at § 422.258(b).

Unadjusted MA statutory non-drug monthly bid amount means a plan's estimate of its average monthly required revenue to provide coverage of basic benefits as defined in § 422.100(c)(1) to an MA eligible beneficiary with a nationally average risk profile for the risk factors CMS applies to payment calculations as set forth at § 422.308(c).