On December 9, 2005, HUD released a notice providing additional guidance regarding the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. HUD Notice HUD Notice H-2005-21 provides guidance on the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan – Part D program (permanent program) that becomes effective on January 1, 2006. Public Housing Agencies (PHAs), Owners and Management Agents must use the guidance in Section D of this Notice when determining annual and adjusted income for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a Medicare prescription drug plan.
This Notice applies to PHAs that administer the public housing and the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) programs. This Notice also applies to PHAs, Owners and Management Agents operating HUD assisted units under:
Section 221(d)(3) BMIR
Section 236
Rental Assistance Program (RAP)
Section 101 Rent Supplement
Section 8 New Construction, Substantial Rehabilitation, State Agency, Rural Housing Loan Management Set-Aside and Property Disposition Set-Aside
Section 202/8
Section 202 PAC
Section 202 PRAC
Section 811 PRAC
Topics discussed in the notice include
We strongly recommend that all property mangers become familiar with the different aspects of the Medicare program. Also, keep in mind that there will be overlap of the old transition program and the new program from January 1 until May. You can find a copy of this notice on our web site at http://www.rbdnow.com/noticesforms.htm
For those of you who use the Monthly Activity Transmission (MAT) Guide to investigate error messages (Appendix C – G), please note that the guide has been updated to accommodate recent changes. If you have a printed version of the guide, be sure that you are using the most recent version. The latest version of each chapter is listed below.
Table of Contents - December 2005
Chapter 1 - Introduction - December 2005
Chapter 2 - Understanding the MAT - December 2005
Chapter 3 - New Release Enhancements and Changes Affecting MAT Submissions - December 2005
Chapter 4 - TRACS Operating Tips - December 2005
Chapter 5- MAT Tenant System Record Formats and Definitions - December 2005
Chapter 6- TRACS' MAT Voucher/Payment System Record Formats and Definitions - February 2005
Appendix A - Multifamily Housing Hub and Program Center Structure in TRACS- December 2005
Appendix B - TRACS Message Formats - December 2005
Appendix C - MAT Tenant and Voucher System Error Messages and Codes - December 2005
Appendix D - TRACS Discrepancy Code Tables – March 2005
Appendix E - TRACS Fatal Error Messages and Codes - December 2005
Appendix F - TRACS Tenant Informational Message Codes - December 2005
Appendix G - TRACS Voucher Acknowledgment & Status Messages and Codes - December 2005
HUD now allows you to send a MAT 10 record (Move-in, Annual, Initial, Interim) that includes a change to the head of household. It is important that the information about the former head of household on the new 50059 is correct. All relevant ‘previous head of household’ fields must be populated with valid values that match the household’s last certification. To maintain the accuracy of the compliance percentage and ensure that only the new head of household is counted, TRACS uses the ‘previous head of household’ values submitted on the MAT10 transaction to locate and deactivate the certification for the ‘old’ head of household.
Beginning December 9, 2005, TRACS will require all significant ‘previous head of household’ fields (MAT field #5 - previous effective date, MAT field #6 - previous head last name, MAT field #7 - previous first name, and MAT field #9 - previous head birth date) to be populated with a valid value when a MAT10 transaction requesting a change in the head of household (MAT field #4 - previous head id populated) is submitted. MAT10 transactions submitted with the previous head id populated will generate the fatal error below unless all significant ‘previous’ fields are also populated with valid values.
Code F0130
Description
MAT10 not processed. When previous head id is populated for a head change, previous effective date, last name, first name, and birth date must be populated and valid.
Recommended Solution
The submitted ‘previous’ head values must match the values that currently exist in TRACS for the head of household being changed. Verify the data and resubmit the certification with a valid value in each of the 'previous' fields.