Medicare Secondary Payer and Certain Civil Money Penalties; Extension of Timeline for Publication of Final Rule
| Published date | 22 February 2023 |
| Record Number | 2023-03621 |
| Citation | 88 FR 10868 |
| Court | Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services |
| Section | Proposed rules |
10868
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 22, 2023 / Proposed Rules
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services
42 CFR Part 402
Office of the Secretary
45 CFR Part 102
[CMS–6061–RCN]
RIN 0938–AT86
Medicare Secondary Payer and Certain
Civil Money Penalties; Extension of
Timeline for Publication of Final Rule
AGENCY
: Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS), Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION
: Extension of timeline.
SUMMARY
: This document announces the
1-year extension of the timeline for
publication of the final rule. Section
1871(a)(3)(A) of the Social Security Act
(the Act) requires us to establish and
publish a regular timeline for the
publication of final regulations based on
the previous publication of a proposed
regulation. Section 1871(a)(3)(B) of the
Act allows us to extend the timeline for
publication of the final rule by
publishing a Federal Register document
which includes a brief explanation of
the justification for the variation in the
timeline.
DATES
: As of February 22, 2023, the
timeline for the publication of the final
rule to finalize the provisions of the
proposed rule published on February
18, 2020 (85 FR 8793), is extended until
February 18, 2024.
ADDRESSES
: This is not a solicitation for
comment. The February 18, 2020
proposed rule is available at https://
www.federalregister.gov/d/2020-02085.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Jacqueline Cipa, (410) 786–3259.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: In the
February 18, 2020 Federal Register (85
FR 8793), we published a proposed rule
titled ‘‘Medicare Secondary Payer and
Certain Civil Money Penalties’’ that
specified how and when CMS would
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 Medicare
Secondary Payer (MSP) reporting
obligations, as required under sections
1862(b)(7) and 1862(b)(8) of the Social
Security Act (the Act). This document
announces an extension of the timeline
for publication of the final rule.
Section 1871(a)(3)(A) of the Act
requires us to establish and publish a
regular timeline for the publication of
final regulations based on the previous
publication of a proposed regulation.
Section 1871(a)(3)(B) of the Act
allows the regular timeline for
publishing Medicare final regulations to
vary based on the complexity of the
regulation, number and scope of
comments received, and other related
factors. The initial targeted timeline for
a rule cannot exceed 3 years from the
date of publishing the proposed
regulation, absent exceptional
circumstances. For the February 18,
2020 proposed rule, the timeline
established by the Secretary provided a
targeted publication date of February 18,
2023. The Secretary may extend the
initial targeted publication date of the
final regulation if the Secretary provides
public notice, including a brief
explanation of the justification for the
variation, no later than the regulation’s
previously established proposed
publication date.
Consistent with the aforementioned
statutory provision, we are providing a
brief explanation of the agency’s
circumstances that have led us to vary
the timeline for publishing the final
rule. These are exceptional
circumstances, although the Act does
not require exceptional circumstances
for such extensions. (For more detailed
information, see footnote number 24 in
the February 1, 2023 Federal Register
document (88 FR 6648)). We are 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. It was not possible to
conclude this data analysis on the
initial, targeted timeline for the
proposed rule because public listening
sessions raised additional concerns that
CMS believed were important to
properly and thoroughly research prior
to publishing the final rule. We have
decided that it is critical to conduct
additional analysis about the economic
impact of the rule. We are preparing
additional data analysis and predictive
modeling to better understand the
economic impact of the proposed rule
across different insurer types. This data
analysis is designed to review the actual
current reporting and model potential
penalties that would be imposed were
the final rule in place. Along with
delays resulting from the agency’s focus
on the COVID–19 public health
emergency, we determined that
additional time is needed to address the
complex policy and operational issues
that were raised. We are extending the
publication deadline so as to provide
the most accurate, complete, and robust
data possible to confirm the intent and
economic impact of the final rule.
This document extends the timeline
for publication of the final rule for one
year until February 18, 2024.
Elizabeth J. Gramling,
Executive Secretary to the Department,
Department of Health and Human Services.
[FR Doc. 2023–03621 Filed 2–17–23; 4:15 pm]
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