Editorial Note on Part 422
Editorial Note: Nomenclature changes to part 422 appear at 70 FR 4741, Jan. 28, 2005.

§ 422.252 Terminology. *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: ( 1 ) The unadjusted MA statutory non-drug monthly bid amount for coverage of basic benefits as defined in § 422.100(c)(1).
( 2 ) The amount for coverage of basic prescription drug benefits under Part D (if any).
( 3 ) The amount for provision of supplemental health care benefits (if any).
*New MA plan* means a MA contract offered by a parent organization that has not had another MA contract in the previous 3 years. For purposes of 2022 quality bonus payments based on 2021 Star Ratings only, new MA plan means an MA contract offered by a parent organization that has not had another MA contract in the previous 4 years.
*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).
[63 FR 35085, June 26, 1998, as amended at 70 FR 52026, Sept. 1, 2005; 76 FR 21564, Apr. 15, 2011; 84 FR 15832, Apr. 16, 2019; 85 FR 19290, Apr. 6, 2020; 86 FR 6098, Jan. 19, 2021; 87 FR 27895, May 9, 2022]