Normative Letter 18-1205 - Marketing and Educational Materials - Marketing Activity Guides - Mandatory Requirements

Aug 25, 2026

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Normative Letter 18-1205 amends prior normative letters and establishes mandatory requirements for marketing materials used for Plan Vital under Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration (PRHIA). It defines applicability, scope, and marketing material meaning, sets content and image guidelines, restricts third-party and protected health information, and requires approval for disclosures. It also specifies branding rules (logos, headings, button placement) and outlines procedures and weekly submission schedules for MCO review and approval.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Marketing Materials

Applicability

Scope

Definition of Marketing Materials

Content Guidelines

Images and Branding Requirements

General Templates

Submission Procedure and Schedules

Normative Letter 18-1205(Amendment to Normative Letters 18-0807,13-1212 and 13-1216) Date:December 5,2018 To: All Managed Care Organizations contracted by the Puerto Rico Health InsuranceAdministration(PRHIA)to provide benefits and services for Plan Vital, Subject:Marketing and Educational Materials -Marketing Activity Guides This Normative Letter amend Normative Letter 18-0807,dated August 7,2018 related to theguidelines for the evaluation of content,image,development and distribution of the materials usedfor marketing,promotion and press that directly or indirectly affect Plan Vital,beneficiaries.Thefollowing is mandatory as of December 1,2018: # 1.Marketing Materials: ## A. Applicability: The art and content of all marketing materials(e.g.writing,images,sound,videos)thatinclude information regarding Plan Vital,Vital benefits and services. Examples:brochures,marquees,exhibitions,presentations,posters,banners,loose sheets,posters,promotional items,street banners,shirts,announcementsand/or press release for media(traditional,digital,social networks,internet),radio,and others. ## B. Scope: All materials addressed to Plan Vital,beneficiaries,municipal and state governmentemployees and officials,and the general community and public,that are generated bythe Managed Care Organizations (MCOs)contracted by PRHIA,or theirsubcontractors. Normative Letter 18-1205(Amendment to Normative Letters 18-0807,13-1212 and 13-1216) ## C. Definition of Marketing Materials: Marketing means the activities and use of materials that are conducted with the intentto draw a beneficiary's attention and to influence a beneficiary's decision-makingprocess when selecting an MCO for enrollment or deciding to stay enrolled in a plan(that is,retention-based marketing).Additionally,marketing includes any materialsthat contain information about the MCO's benefit structure,cost sharing,andmeasuring or ranking standards.As per Vital Contract,marketing also means Anycommunication from the Contractor to any Eligible Person or Potential Enrollee thatcan reasonably be interpreted as intended to influence the individual to enroll in theContractor's Plan,or not to enroll in another plan,or to disenroll from another plan. Materials that are produced in any medium,by or on behalf of the Contractor that canreasonably be interpreted as intended to market to Potential Enrollees ## D. Content Guidelines: # I. Messages included in the materials(e.g.,communications,announcements,notifications): a.Must not contain third parties or provider's specific names,logos,trademarks,slogan,etc. b.Will refer to the Government Health Plan(GHP or PSG for its Spanish initials)as Plan. c.In the case of documents addressed to beneficiaries,must be simple andsuitable such that a beneficiary of 4th grade schooling can understand itscontent. d.Must not contain protected health information or any other unauthorizeddisclosure of information when materials are used in the marketing context.HIPAA laws and regulations,as well as the contractual agreement withPRHIA,establish the responsibility of both the covered entity and the businessassociate regarding unauthorized disclosures.Any communication, Normative Letter 18-1205(Amendment to Normative Letters 18-0807,13-1212 and 13-1216) announcement,notification or material related to disclosures of informationmust be submitted to the PRHIA Privacy Officer for approval. The specific content of the materials will depend on its final purpose,so it will be theresponsibility of the MCO to ensure that it complies with the messages endorsed byPRHIA and corresponding state and federal authorities. ## b.Images:Messages will use cohesive graphic images for Plan Vital adapted to the colors used institutionally by PRHIA: a.Colors: b.Institutional Logo(PRHIA),MCO Logo and header: Normative Letter 18-1205(Amendment to Normative Letters 18-0807,13-1212 and 13-1216) i. PRHIA's logo cannot be altered. i

FAQs

What marketing materials are covered under Normative Letter 18-1205?

All materials that include information about Plan Vital and its benefits/services, produced in any medium by or for contracted Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) or their subcontractors.

What content restrictions apply to messages in marketing materials?

Messages must not include third parties’ names/logos/trademarks or protected health information, must refer to the plan as Plan Vital, and must be understandable for beneficiaries with a fourth-grade level of schooling.

How should MCOs submit marketing materials for approval and what is the schedule?

Each MCO submits up to five materials per week before 10:00 a.m. to PRHIA’s Compliance and Integrity Office for review and approval, following the assigned weekday schedule (with submission on the next business day if the assigned day is a holiday).

Aug 25, 2026

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