Senator irked by hazy timeframe on Sunshine Act

A CMS official indicated that a long-awaited final rule implementing a physician payment reporting program will begin requiring data collection in 2013—a vague enough answer to draw a senator's criticism.

“We hope some data collection will occur in 2013,” said Niall Brennan, director of the policy and data analysis group at CMS, told a Senate Aging Committee roundtable called to get an update of the regulations implementing the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. The measure, included as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, requires the first-time national disclosures of physician payments from several categories of healthcare companies.

The final rules were required in October 2011 by the law, but the agency has repeatedly delayed them. And Brennan's vague indication of timeframe for their expected release drew the ire of one of the law's proponents, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

“We very much welcome hopes, but some finality and certainty and commitment is to be expected,” Blumenthal said.

The agency will need to determine not only the date it will issue the final rule but also how much time it will give the affected companies to begin collecting the required data. The law required allowing 90 days for the companies to prepare and the collection of data through the next January before reporting it publicly in March.

The agency also is likely to follow the final rule with additional, less formal guidance, such as lists of frequently asked questions, Brennan said. Those will aim to answer ongoing healthcare industry questions and concerns.

Representatives from various parts of the healthcare sector also used the roundtable to pitch tweaks they want the CMS to make to the final rules before issuing them. Those included requests for at least 120 days after the rule is issued before having to begin collecting the data and for the inclusion of explanations for the public regarding the purpose of the payments.

Brennan said the agency was “very aware of the need to provide context” along with the dollar amounts.