May 13, 2026 | CMS Medicare Plan Finder Phase II Information Session

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This support session, held on May 13, outlines the Medicare Plan Finder Phase 2 program. Led by Pat Rockwell of RevSpring, the session details how Medicare Advantage (MA) plans must now provide directory data to CMS via Firebase JSON API file exchanges for display in the Medicare Plan Finder tool.


Program Deliverables & Timeline

The transition to production-ready data follows a strict schedule based on "Wave" participation:

Key Deadlines

  • May 15, 2026: Deadline for Wave 1 participants to submit their testing crosswalk files.

  • June 30, 2026: Deadline for Wave 2 participants to submit their testing crosswalk files.

  • August 1, 2026: All participants must provide a production-ready crosswalk containing Contract Year 2027 data.

  • September 1, 2026: Data submission to CMS.

  • October 1, 2026: Production data goes live in the Medicare Plan Finder for beneficiaries.


Roles and Responsibilities

RevSpring Responsibilities

  • URL Management: Providing functional, publicly accessible provider directory URLs.

  • Technical Compliance: Generating Firebase JSON files that adhere to CMS technical and field-level specifications.

  • Data Maintenance: Updating data within the Firebase store at least every 30 days.

  • Validation: Performing internal validations similar to CMS routines and providing feedback to clients.

Client Responsibilities

  • Data Accuracy: Ensuring crosswalks include all individual (non-employer-only) plans and segments.

  • Field Compliance: Updating internal data to meet rigid FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) structure requirements.

  • HPMS Management: Managing and entering the RevSpring-provided URLs into the CMS Health Plan Management System (HPMS).


CMS Validation Process

CMS will simulate production workflows by crawling provided URLs daily, typically during low-traffic evening hours (Eastern Time). Validation results will be available in the HPMS "MPF Provider Directory" module by mid-to-late morning the following day.

Error Levels

LevelTypeImpact
Level 1Fatal ErrorEntire data set is rejected (e.g., malformed JSON or hosting issues).
Level 2Record ErrorSpecific record is withheld from the Plan Finder until resolved; remainder of set is published.
Level 3WarningData is published, but the organization is encouraged to remediate the flagged issue quickly.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Data Refresh: "Refreshing" data means updating the Firebase store. Even if provider info hasn't changed, the file must be re-published at least every 30 days to remain compliant.

  • URL Stability: RevSpring aims to keep URLs permanent per contract ID/year. If a URL must change, it will be coordinated in advance to avoid a "Level 1" fatal error in HPMS.

  • Late Submissions: Clients who missed the May 5 initial window may still participate but will likely be moved to Wave 2 testing in late June.

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