CMS adjusts September plan payment user fees
Sep 6, 2026 edition · GC-2026-0045 · Published 2026-09-06 · Version 2 · Final
The September MARx cycle adjusts annual COB and MA-PD education fees, while PDPs have no September NMEC assessment. Earlier MLR remittances belong to the August payment reconciliation.
What happened
CMS’s August 31 MARx memorandum describes the September payment scheduled for September 1 and the final annual user-fee adjustments. The September coordination-of-benefits collection rises from 7.2 to 7.4 cents per member to reach the 2026 total of $0.65 after January–August collections. The MA-PD National Medicare Education Campaign rate rises from 0.021% to 0.029% for the September cycle to reach $108.9 million annually. PDPs have no September NMEC assessment because their $11.4 million maximum was reached in August. These are adjustments for that payment cycle, not permanent monthly rates.
Required 2024 medical-loss-ratio remittances were included in the August 2026 payment and identified on the Plan Payment Report by the MLR adjustment code. That is a separate reconciliation item from September user fees. The memorandum also explains consolidated parent tickets: a plan that has already reported an issue need not submit duplicate action when its ticket is consolidated. Finance teams can use the stated plan-type exceptions and payment months to investigate differences, without assuming the announced schedule proves an individual payment was received.
Scope and timing
- Authority status
- Final
- Applicability
- Potentially applicable
- Audience
- Health systems, Provider networks
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
- Affected functions
- Finance, Managed Care, Compliance
- Responsible owner
- Finance
Why it matters
A fee catch-up, a plan-type exception and an earlier MLR adjustment explain different remittance items. Combining them can produce an incorrect reconciliation.
Recommended action
Reconcile September COB and MA-PD NMEC adjustments, check the PDP exception and examine August MLR entries separately. Follow up unresolved payment differences through the MAPD Help Desk without duplicating a consolidated ticket.
Sources
- MARx September 2026 Payment InformationOfficial · CMS · 2026-08-31 · Source review 2026-09-06
- Official retained source documentOfficial · Official issuing agency · 2026-08-31 · Source review 2026-10-16
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