In somewhat of a reprieve for website operations in the Department of Health and Human Services, GAO has praised the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for implementing processes to oversee Part D pricing accuracy and improvements on the agency’s Plan Finder website usability.
Medicare uses data checks and quality measures to oversee the accuracy of Part D plan pricing information on the Plan Finder interactive website. CMS requires Part D plan sponsors to submit drug-pricing information for their plans, which Plan Finder uses to estimate beneficiaries’ cost-sharing amounts and expected annual drug costs, according to GAO-14-143.
It said that to ensure the accuracy of information CMS performs computerized data checks on the pricing information for each plan to identify incomplete and potentially inaccurate data before information is displayed on Plan Finder. The agency also uses quality measures to evaluate the accuracy of pricing information on Plan Finder, and it has assessed the usability of Plan Finder by obtaining feedback from a variety of sources, including beneficiary assistance organizations, user testing, a website survey, and website user data.
CMS has also used feedback on Plan Finder to update the website and improve usability, such as the addition of an FAQ page.
