• August 15, 2008 - TRC 154 Update

On July 25, 2008 and July 31, 2008, CMS received an extraordinary high volume of data from SSA causing MARx to generate a large volume of TRC 154s (Out of Area Status) on the July 27, 2008 and August 3, 2008 Transaction Reply Reports. The data contained within these records is correct but the TRC could be erroneous. CMS is advising MAO/PDPs to be cautious in the way these transactions are processed since the TRC 154 could be misleading or incorrect.

Please direct questions or concerns to the MMA Help Desk at mmahelp@cms.hhs.gov or 1-800-927-8069.

• August 11, 2008 - Announcement of Fall Software Release

Please review the memo in the Downloads section below entitled "Announcement of Fall Software Release" regarding CMS systems enhancements scheduled for implementation in November.

Enrollment and Eligibility System Production Calendar

• NEW! (August 27, 2008) - The MMA Production Schedule for 2008 has been updated to reflect the known schedule as of August 27, 2008. The calendar is available for download both in a graphical (color-coded) format and as a text-only document. Please note that both calendars contain the same information. For either version, see the Downloads section below.

Planned Outages

Due to updates of the CMS search engine the MMA Advanced Search option located in the Related Links Inside CMS section will not be functional for a period of time. CMS intends to have the function available by early January. Pending the completion of the upgrade we have removed the MMA Advanced Search link from the MMA portal. Please direct questions or concerns to the MMA Help Desk.

• August 15, 2008 - Gentran and IACS Outage

Please be aware that CMS systems, including resources such as Gentran and IACS will be undergoing routine scheduled maintenance and will be unavailable to Plan users.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

• Plan users will be unable to logon to Gentran from approximately Noon (ET) until approximately 6:00pm (ET)
• IACS will be unavailable from approximately 4:00am (ET) until approximately 6:00pm (ET). Users will be unable to register, modify their profile, or perform password changes or resets. Access to the Medicare Advantage and Part-D Inquiry System (Common UI) will not be affected.

Sunday August 17, 2008

• Plan users will be able to logon to Gentran; however no inbound and outbound Gentran files will be processed between Midnight and approximately 4:00am (ET). Plan users will be able to send inbound files to their mailbox.  Plan users will also be able to download existing files in theirGentran mailbox that arrived prior to the mainframe outage at Midnight. 
• IACS will be unavailable from approximately 11:00am (ET) until approximately 3:00pm (ET). Users will be unable to register, modify their profile, or perform password changes or resets. Access to the Medicare Advantage and Part-D Inquiry System (Common UI) will not be affected.

Please direct questions or concerns to the MMA Help Desk.

• August 12, 2008 - IMPORTANT – Upcoming CMS Systems Maintenance 

Please be advised that the Medicare Advantage and Part-D Inquiry System (Common UI) will be unavailable to Plan users from approximately 1:00am (EDT) Saturday, August 30, 2008 until approximately noon (EDT) on Monday, September 1, 2008.

Other CMS systems, including resources such as Connect:Direct, Gentran, and IACS, will be also be undergoing routine scheduled maintenance and will be unavailable to Plan users during this same time period.

Plans are advised to reschedule any automated processes that are scheduled to run during this timeframe.  File transmissions normally scheduled during this time period including the TRR will also be delayed.  Plans should expect to receive regularly scheduled weekend reports on Monday, September 1, 2008.

Please direct questions or concerns to the MMA Help Desk.

• IACS Weekly System Maintenance - Sunday 6 p.m. to Monday 6 a.m. EST.
• GENTRAN (mailboxes) Weekly System Backup - Sunday 1 a.m. to approximately 3 a.m. EST.

Contacting the MMA Help Desk

Phone: 1-800-927-8069
Email: mmahelp@cms.hhs.gov
Hours of Operation: M-F 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST.

Downloads
MA Full Dual File Instructions, August 28, 2008 [PDF, 39KB] Updated Announcement of Fall Software Release v2, August 25, 2008 [PDF, 270 KB] Enrollment and Eligibility System Production Calendar for 2008 (Color-Coded), August 28, 2008 [PDF, 74KB] Enrollment and Eligibility System Production Calendar for 2008 (Text Format), August 28, 2008 [PDF, 43KB]
Related Links Inside CMS
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Related Links Outside CMS
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