Health Plan Certification of Compliance Comment Period Extended to April 3
The Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) has extended the comment
period for the proposed rule, “Administrative Simplification: Health Plan Certification
of Compliance.” HHS is specifically looking to receive
additional comments from third party administrators (TPAs) and self-insured
plans.
HHS is now accepting public comments on the
proposed rule through April
3, 2014.
The Certification of
Compliance for Health Plans proposed rule is different from previous Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Administrative
Simplification regulations because it affects more and different types of
entities.
For example, many third party
administrators, self-funded health plans, and group health plans that have not
been impacted by previous HIPAA Administrative Simplification requirements will
be affected by this rule, even if they do not directly conduct HIPAA covered
transactions.
The proposed rule would
require controlling health plans to submit documentation on or before December
31, 2015. It would also establish penalty fees for a controlling health plan
that fails to comply with the Certification of Compliance requirements.
The goal of the extension of
the comment period is to provide these entities with time to understand and
offer feedback on the business impacts of the Certification of Compliance
proposed rule. HHS encourages these entities to submit feedback so that their
comments and suggestions can be considered during the policy-making process.
