§ 422.60 Election process.

(a) Acceptance of enrollees: General rule. (1) Except for the limitations on enrollment in an MA MSA plan provided by § 422.62(d)(1) and except as specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, each MA organization must accept without restriction (except for an MA RFB plan as provided by § 422.57) individuals who are eligible to elect an MA plan that the MA organization offers and who elect an MA plan during initial coverage election periods under § 422.62(a)(1), annual election periods under § 422.62(a)(2), and under the circumstances described in § 422.62(b)(1) through (b)(4).

(2) MA organizations must accept elections during the open enrollment periods specified in § 422.62(a)(3) and (4) if their MA plans are open to new enrollees.

(b) Capacity to accept new enrollees. (1) MA organizations may submit information on enrollment capacity of plans.

(2) If CMS determines that an MA plan offered by an MA organization has a capacity limit, and the number of MA eligible individuals who elect to enroll in that plan exceeds the limit, the MA organization offering the plan may limit enrollment in the plan under this part, but only if it provides priority in acceptance as follows:

(i) First, for individuals who elected the plan prior to the CMS determination that capacity has been exceeded, elections will be processed in chronological order by date of receipt of their election forms.

(ii) Then for other individuals in a manner that does not discriminate on the basis of any factor related to health as described in § 422.110.

(3) CMS considers enrollment limit requests for an MA plan service area, or a portion of the plan service area, only if the health and safety of beneficiaries is at risk, such as if the provider network is not available to serve the enrollees in all or a portion of the service area.