IntegriGuard Awarded National Oversight of Medicare
Prescription Drug Discount Card - Transitional Assistance Program (PDDC-TAP)

August 31, 2004
Contact: Diana Parker
415.677.2122
dlparker@caqio.sdps.org

OMAHA, NE. August 31, 2004 - IntegriGuard, LLC, a Federally-designated Program Safeguard Contractor (PSC) for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Medicare Integrity Program, has won the CMS national contract to provide oversight to Medicare’s Prescription Drug Discount Card-Transitional Assistance Program (PDDC-TAP).

The Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 requires the implementation of a Prescription Drug Discount Card (PDDC) to provide access to PDDC-eligible individuals throughout the United States. In addition, the MMA requires that a Transitional Assistance Program (TAP) be provided for eligible individuals.

IntegriGuard’s coordination and communication with CMS, drug card sponsors, pharmacy providers and their associations, beneficiaries and their advocacy groups, and law enforcement is essential to the success of this national award.

CMS has contracted with IntegriGuard to monitor the activities associated with drug cards. A critical task of this work is IntegriGuard’s weekly assessment of the sponsor’s drug pricing information to identify any “bait and switch” activities.

Additionally, IntegriGuard will be working with CMS to identify and prevent potential fraudulent activities involving the discount drug card program, such as counterfeit cards and identity theft schemes. IntegriGuard will also conduct a survey of weaknesses in Medicaid drug programs and how states deal with those weaknesses. IntegriGuard will help CMS prepare for potential issues that may arise in the new Medicare Prescription drug benefit as well as assist in possible resolution of those issues.

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Omaha, Nebraska-based IntegriGuard was formed in 1999 as a national division of Lumetra, California's Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for Medicare, and was established as an independent entity in April 2003. IntegriGuard is currently one of 12 Program Safeguard Contractors in the nation. For more information, visit IntegriGuard on the Web at www.integriguard.org.