[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 226 (Friday, November 23, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 70163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28440]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

[CMS-9961-N]


Recognition of Entities for the Accreditation of Qualified Health 
Plans

AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the recognition of the National 
Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and URAC as recognized 
accrediting entities for the purposes of fulfilling the accreditation 
requirement as part of qualified health plan certification.

DATES: This notice is effective on November 20, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rebecca Zimmermann, (301) 492-4396.
Deborah Greene, (301) 492-4293.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 1311(c)(1)(D) of the Affordable Care Act specifies that to 
be certified as a qualified health plan (QHP) and operate in the 
Exchange, a health plan must be accredited by a recognized accrediting 
entity on a uniform timeline established by the applicable Exchange. On 
July 20, 2012, we published a final rule in the Federal Register (77 FR 
42658) titled, ``Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Data 
Collection To Support Standards Related to Essential Health Benefits; 
Recognition of Entities for the Accreditation of Qualified Health 
Plans.'' In that rule, we finalized 45 CFR 156.275(c), which specified 
the requirements for accrediting entities to be recognized for the 
purposes of fulfilling the accreditation requirement as part of QHP 
certification. We also established that, effective upon completion of 
the conditions at Sec.  156.275 in paragraphs (c)(2) through (c)(4), 
that the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and URAC will 
be recognized as accrediting entities for the purposes of QHP 
certification and that the Department of Health and Human Services 
(HHS) will notify the public of this recognition in the Federal 
Register. As discussed in the preamble to the final rule published on 
July 20, 2012, the recognition of accrediting entities in phase one is 
effective until it is rescinded or this interim phase one process is 
replaced by the phase two process.

II. Provisions of the Final Notice

    NCQA and URAC met the requirements and criteria described in the 
final rule to be recognized as an accrediting entity (77 FR 42662 
through 42668). Therefore, this notice serves as public notification 
that NCQA and URAC are recognized by the Secretary of HHS \1\ as 
accrediting entities for the purposes of QHP certification.
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    \1\ Delegated to CCIIO, 76 FR 53903 through 53906 2011-08-30.
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III. Collection of Information Requirements

    This document does not impose information collection and 
recordkeeping requirements. Consequently, it need not be reviewed by 
the Office of Management and Budget under the authority of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

    Dated: November 8, 2012.
Marilyn Tavenner,
Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
[FR Doc. 2012-28440 Filed 11-20-12; 11:15 am]
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