HHS finalizes rule rescinding two administrative simplification standards

The Department of Health and Human Services today issued a final rule rescinding the standard unique health plan identifier (HPID) and other entity identifier (OEID), as recommended by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. The agency delayed enforcement of a 2012 final rule implementing the two administrative simplification standards in 2014 to consider the recommendation. HHS proposed rescinding the identifiers last December based on extensive input from the field, saying the identifiers would be costly and burdensome to implement and would not add value since the field can already route claims and other Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act transactions using existing payer IDs. Commenting in February, AHA agreed with the agency and urged it to quickly rescind the identifiers.