The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today published a final list of Essential Community Providers for plan year 2019, available on the CMS website under “Application Resources.” Health insurers use the annual list to identify providers meeting ECP requirements for Qualified Health Plans participating in health insurance exchanges. The ECP hospital category includes disproportionate share hospitals, children’s hospitals, rural referral centers, sole community hospitals, free-standing cancer centers and critical access hospitals. Qualifying hospitals should confirm they are on the list and report any errors to the CMS regional office. Hospitals that serve predominantly low-income, medically-underserved individuals may petition CMS through Aug. 22 to be on the ECP list for plan year 2020.

Headline
Guidance on the implementation timeline for the No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution operations final rule was released Aug. 7 by the Departments of…
Headline
The AHA July 31 provided comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on its interim final rule on Medicaid community engagement requirements.…
Headline
The Department of Labor July 22 released a proposed rule to modernize how group health plans deliver required disclosures. The proposal would create a safe…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today released a proposed rule that would update Medicaid provider tax policies included in the July 2025…
Headline
The AHA provided comments July 21 to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on its proposed rule to modify policies governing Medicaid…
Headline
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland July 16 enjoined eight provisions from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ 2027 notice of…