CGI-AMS wins HHS software pact

CGI-AMS will develop and support a payment reconciliation system for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under a $14.5 million contract with the Department of Health and Human Services.

The system that CGI-AMS will create is one information technology component of the Medicare prescription drug program, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2006. The system will be created over a three-and-a-half year period. The system, which will be built from custom and off-the-shelf components, is intended to help the agency provide timely and accurate payments to prescription drug plans, according to CGI-AMS.

The first phase of the project will let the agency track and reconcile the beneficiary premiums withheld by the Social Security Administration and the Railroad Retirement Board. Beneficiaries may choose to pay for prescription drug coverage through withholdings from their Social Security or RRB checks. The reconciliation capability is scheduled for February 2006.

The software development pact is the latest in a series of contracts CGI-AMS has been awarded at CMS. Last November, the company announced the signing of several contracts with the agency valued at more than $100 million. Those contacts include support for the medicare.gov Web site, the Health Plan Management System and the Fraud Investigation Database, among other systems.