Section 111: Rule on Penalties Not Expected Until December 2016

Under the SMART Act, CMS is supposed to issues rules specifying "practices for which sanctions will and will not be imposed."  In December, 2013, CMS issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comments on circumstances in which penalties should and should not be imposed.  The comment period closed in February, 2014 and since then the industry has been awaiting proposed rules from CMS.  After CMS issues proposed rules, the public will be allowed to submit comments during a 60 day period, and then CMS will issue final rules.

Previously, CMS had indicated that they would issue proposed rules in July, 2015.  However, CMS has now indicated that they will not be issued until December, 2016.  Of course, it is possible that this time frame will change again and that CMS will issue proposed rules at a later date.  We will continue to keep you updated and let you know once any proposed and final rules are issued.  Until they are, RREs should focus on ensuring that they are reporting under Section 111 correctly and not be overly consumed with fear of retribution from CMS.
If you have questions or would like an audit of your Section 111 reporting program and processes, please let us know and we will be happy to help.