CMS issues third-party premium payment rule for dialysis facilities

Medicare-certified dialysis facilities that pay premiums for individual market coverage directly or through a third party must educate patients about their coverage options and ensure that issuers are informed and agree to accept the payments for the duration of the plan year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in an interim final rule released yesterday. The rule takes effect 30 days after publication in tomorrow’s Federal Register. In addition, CMS will accept comments for 30 days on whether third-party payments for individual market coverage should be prohibited for people with alternative public coverage. In comments submitted in September, AHA said it supports targeted efforts to stop offenders from inappropriately steering people eligible for Medicare or Medicaid into individual health plans, but that such actions should not be used as a pretext to further restrict the ability of certain third parties to help individuals with their premiums and cost-sharing responsibilities.