Executive Summary
1. Purpose
The purpose of this final rule is to revise the Medicare Advantage (MA) program (Part C) regulations and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program (Part D) regulations to implement statutory requirements, improve program efficiencies, strengthen beneficiary protections, clarify program requirements, improve payment accuracy, and make various technical changes for contract year 2016.
2. Summary of the Major Provisions
a. Changes to Audit and Inspection Authority (§§ 422.503(d)(2), 423.504(d)(2))
We proposed three changes to our audit and inspection authority. Due to significant concerns raised during the public comment period, we are finalizing only two of those three proposals. First, under section 6408 of the Affordable Care Act, new authority was provided to the Secretary that now requires that each contract provide the right to “timely” inspection and audit.
We are revising both §§ 422.503(d)(2) and 423.504(d)(2) to insert the word “timely” at the end of both of the introductory paragraphs.
We are also adding language to §§ 422.503(d)(2) and 423.504(d)(2) that will allow us to require that a sponsoring organization hire an independent auditor, working in accordance with CMS specifications, to validate if the deficiencies that were found during a CMS full or partial program audit have been corrected and provide CMS with a copy of the audit findings.
The proposal to require MA organizations and Part D plan sponsors to hire an independent auditor to conduct full or partial program audits will not be finalized.
b. Enrollment Eligibility for Individuals Not Lawfully Present in the United States (§§ 417.2, 417.420, 417.422, 417.460, 422.1, 422.50, 422.74, 423.1, 423.30, 423.44)
After consideration of the public comments, we are finalizing the policies mostly as proposed, with the exception of changes to the regulation text at §§ 417.422, 417.460, 422.50, 423.1, 423.3 and 423.44 to clarify that any individual not lawfully present is no longer eligible to remain enrolled in a cost, MA, or Part D plan, to establish the disenrollment effective date to be the first of the month following notice by CMS of ineligibility, and to delete the term “qualified alien.” Further, we are redesignating the current text at § 417.460(b)(2)(iv) as paragraph (b)(2)(v) and finalizing the provision establishing a lack of lawful presence as a basis for disenrollment from a cost plan at paragraph (b)(2)(iv). This provision is consistent with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) and with recommendations made by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in its January 2013 and October 2013 reports.
c. Business Continuity for MA Organizations & PDP Sponsors (§§ 422.504(o) and 423.505(p))
To respond to concerns raised during the comment period, we revised the regulation text by providing a 72, rather than 24 hour, restoration time period for MA organizations and Part D sponsors after a systems failure. We also revised text as necessary to make clear that we require MA organizations and sponsors to “plan to” restore essential functions within the 72-hour time period, rather than guarantee complete restoration within the timeframe. Some commenters thought our intent was to require continuous operations under all conditions, and we revised language from the proposed regulation to make clear that that was not the case in our final rule. Lastly commenters distinguished between Part C and D operations and noted, for instance, that provider payments are not a 24-hour critical function for MA plans since payment is allowed to be made within 30 days and that health and safety would not be put at risk by failure of Part C claims processing and appeals processing. We removed language related to that requirement for MA plans.
d. Efficient Dispensing in Long Term Care Facilities and Other Changes (§ 423.154)
We are finalizing changes to the rule requiring efficient dispensing to Medicare Part D enrollees in long term care (LTC) facilities. Some Part D sponsors (or their pharmacy benefit managers) implemented the short-cycle dispensing requirement by pro-rating monthly dispensing fees, which penalize the offering and adoption of more efficient LTC dispensing techniques compared to less efficient LTC dispensing techniques. This is because when a medication is discontinued before a month's supply has been dispensed, a pharmacy that dispenses the maximum amount of the medication at a time permitted under § 423.154 (which is 14 days' supplies), collects more in dispensing fees than a pharmacy that utilizes dispensing techniques that result in less than maximum quantities being dispensed at a time. In other words, a less efficient pharmacy collects more in dispensing fees than a more efficient pharmacy. This is contrary to the Congress' intent in enacting section 3310 of the Affordable Care Act, which is to reduce medication waste. Therefore, we have finalized a prohibition on payment arrangements that penalize the offering and adoption of more efficient LTC dispensing techniques by prorating dispensing fees based on days' supply or quantity dispensed. We have also finalized a requirement to ensure that any difference in payment methodology among LTC pharmacies incentivizes more efficient dispensing techniques. Other changes to the rule requiring efficient dispensing to Medicare Part D enrollees in LTC facilities are eliminating language that has been misinterpreted as requiring the proration of dispensing fees and making a technical change to the requirement that Part D sponsors report on the nature and quantity of unused brand and generic drugs. We are not finalizing an additional waiver for LTC pharmacies using restock and reuse dispensing methodologies under certain conditions at this time.
