In what has become a familiar sight for Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) rule watchers, CMS has released a notice to delay a proposed rule. This time it is in regard to Section 111 civil money penalty regulations that were announced three years ago. The final rule has now been pushed back for an additional year.

 

The Proposed Rule

On February 18, 2020, the Proposed Rule regarding MSP and Certain Civil Monetary Penalties (CMPs) 85 Fed. Reg. 8793 was released, and the agency opened a public comment period to allow for feedback until April 20, 2020. CMS was expected to complete and release its final rule within the standard three-year period for release, which in this instance would be sometime on or before February 2023.  The proposed rule can be found here.

 

Section 111 Background

The Section 111 penalty provision, which allows the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to impose Civil Monetary Penalties against NGHP RREs as follows:

• • Up to $1,000 for each day of noncompliance with respect to each claimant.
  • Up to $1,000 penalty amount will be adjusted annually for inflation under 45 CFR part 102.
  • Current maximum penalty amount as adjusted for inflation is $1,247.
  • As part of its NPRM, CMS outlines proposed situations when it could impose a CMP, along with specific instances when it would not impose a CMP.

   

  Summary

  This final proposed rule specifies how and when CMS must calculate and impose civil money penalties (CMPs) when group health plan (GHP) and non-group health plan (NGHP) responsible reporting entities (RREs) fail to meet their MSP reporting obligations in any one or more of the following ways: When RREs fail to register and report as required by MSP reporting requirements; when RREs report as required, but report in a manner that exceeds error tolerances established by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (the Secretary); when RREs contradict the information the RREs have reported when CMS attempts to recover its payments from these RREs. This proposed rule would also establish CMP amounts and circumstances under which CMPs would and would not be imposed.

   

  Extension Timeline for Publication of Final Rule

  On February 18, 2023 the Federal Register published the Medicare Secondary Payer of Certain Civil Money Penalties, Extension of Timeline of Final Rule.  Along with the filing, CMS admitted it was “not able to meet the initial targeted 3-year timeline for publication due to delays related to the need for additional, time-consuming data analysis resulting from public inquiry.” The agency has extended the timeline for another year and has until February 18, 2024 to release the announcement.  Click here to read the memo.

   

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