Page 1 of 1
The rush for group health plan administrators to navigate the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website and obtain a Health Plan Identifier (HPID) ahead of the November 5th deadline is over. On October 31, 2014, the CMS Office of e-Health Standards and Services (OESS), the division of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) that is responsible for enforcement of the HIPAA standard transaction requirements, announced a “delay, until further notice,” of the HPID requirements. The regulatory obligations of plan administrators delayed by this notice are the: (i) obtaining of a HPID, and (ii) the use of the HPID in HIPAA transactions.
This delay comes on the heels of a recommendation by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), an advisory body to HHS. The NCVHS asked HHS to review the HPID requirement and recommended that HPIDs not be used in HIPAA transactions. NCVHS’s primary opposing argument to implementation of the HPID standard was that the healthcare industry has already adopted a “standardized national payer identifier based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) identifier.”
Whether HHS will adopt the recommendations of the NCVHS on a permanent basis remains to be seen, but for the time being, plan administrators may discontinue the HPID application process and should stay tuned for further announcements from HHS.
Health Care Reform requires most self-funded and fully-insured group health plans to obtain a Health Plan Identifier (HPID). The HPID is a 10-digit number that will be used to identify the plan in covered electronic HIPAA transactions (for example,electronic communications between the plan and certain third parties regarding health care claims, health plan premium payments, or health care electronic fund transfers).
Large health plans (plans with annual receipts in excess of $5 million) must obtain an HPID by November 5, 2014. Small health plans have until November 5, 2015 to comply. “Receipts” for this purpose appear to be claims paid.
Who is Responsible? For self-funded plans, the plan sponsor is responsible for obtaining an HPID (third-party administrators cannot obtain an HPID on behalf of a self-funded plan sponsor). Although it appears that most insurers will obtain the HPID on behalf of fully-insured plans, some insurers are requiring the plan sponsor to obtain an HPID.
Application Process. To sign up for an HPID, plan sponsors must first be registered within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Health Insurance Oversight System (HIOS) .
The individual responsible for applying will need to sign up as an individual and request to be linked to the relevant company. The individual will then complete the requested information (including company name, address, and EIN, authorizing official information, and the plan’s “Payer ID” number or “NAIC” number).
Some self-funded plan sponsors have reported difficulty with the registration process because self-funded plans do not have a Payer ID or NAIC number. Although CMS has not yet released any formal guidance on this issue, it is expected that self-funded plans will enter “not applicable” for the Payer ID and either leave the NAIC number blank or use the plan sponsor’s EIN in lieu of the NAIC number.
Once the required information has been submitted, an authorized individual within the company must request access to the HIOS. CMS will then grant access to the HIOS system by electronically sending an authorization code to the authorized individual.
The CMS website has step-by-step instructions via a “cheat sheet” and a YouTube video explaining the entire process.
Next Steps. The registration process can be time consuming as there are a number of different registration screens to work through, the collection of the required data may be cumbersome, and delays have been reported within the CMS registration portal. Accordingly, plan sponsors of large self-funded group health plans may wish to begin the registration process as soon as possible in order to meet the November 5, 2014 deadline. Plan sponsors for fully-insured plans should contact the plan’s insurer to see if the insurer will apply for the HPID on behalf of the plan.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently updated the Code Set Rules. The Code Set rules are part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPPA’s) Administrative Simplification Provisions. These rules create uniform electronic standards for common health plan administrative processes. Requiring health care providers and other stakeholders to use the same data formats for common transactions simplifies certain administrative aspects of providing and paying for health care.
Under the latest rules, self funded employers will need to apply for a Health Plan Identifier (HPID). Most employers will have to apply by November 5, 2014. This number will be used to ensure employers comply with certain Code Set rules requirements.
The Code Set Rules have affected covered entities for a number of years. However, certain aspects of these rules were not enforced in the past. In order to promote efficient health coverage, health care reform includes provisions to ensure health care stakeholders are complying with specific transaction and code set requirements.
Review of the HIPAA Code Set Rules
The final HIPAA Transaction and Code regulations published in August 2000 applied to most health plans as of October 16, 2003. They require covered entities conducting certain transactions electronically to use specific standards and code sets. Covered entities include:
Most of the applicable transactions occur between the health plan and health care providers covering areas like claims submission and payment, eligibility, and authorizations/referrals, however the enrollment and disenrollment transaction process generally involves the employer and the health plan.
New Requirements for a HPID for Self Funded Plans
The Code Set rules require all parties involved in the health care system to use an identifying number. Large group health plans (plans with an annual cost of $5 million or more) need to register for their Health Plan Identifier (HPID) number by November 5, 2014. Small group health plans (plans with an annual cost of less than $5 million) will have an extra year to obtain an HPID. Annual cost is based on paid claims before stop loss recoveries and excluding administrative costs and stop loss premiums.
Insurance carriers will likely apply for the 10-digit HPID number for all of their fully- insured group health plans. Employers will have to apply for their 10-digit HPID for self-funded medical plans. The health plan needs to use the HPID number for any of the standard transactions the Code Set rules cover.
Every health plan considered a covered entity must obtain an HPID. The regulations include delineations of group health plans including Controlling Health Plans (a health plan that controls its own business activities, actions and policies) and Subhealth Plan (a health plan whose business activities, actions or policies are directed by a Controlling Health Plan).
Employers are not really sure how the relationship between controlling health plans and subhealth plans would apply to employer-sponsored health plans and are awaiting further clarification from HHS on this issue.
All health plans, regardless of size, must use their HPIDs in standard transactions by November 7, 2016. A “standard transaction” is a CMS menu of transactions, like a claim payment, that must be coded with an HPID.
Employer must provide information about their organizations and health plans when they register for the HPID electronically. More information on applying for an HPID is available here.
Certification Requirements for Compliance with Standard Transaction Rules
Health plans must also verify with HHS that they comply with the Code Set rules. Health plans have been subject to these rules for almost a decade, however there has been little to no oversight on compliance with the common formats. HHS is now requiring a certification showing that the plan is using the standard formats. Initially, the certification will only be done on a few of the required transactions.
The health plan must first certify that they meet the Code Set requirements for eligibility, claim status and EFT and remittance advice transactions. Plans have two different options to certify they are complying. Both involve having specific vendors certify the plan uses the proper transaction formats. The two options are as follows:
The HIPAA Credential option involves testing the required transactions with at least three trading partners. Those three partners have to represent at least 30% of transactions conducted with providers. If it does not constitute 30%, then the plan must confirm it has successfully traded with at least 25%.
The Phase III Core Seal will require the Controlling Health Plan to test transactions with an authorized testing vendor.
All certifications will be filed with HHS. The first one will be due by December 31, 2015. Health insurance carriers and Third Party Administrators will most likely provide the certifications for employer-sponsored health plans, but employers will still need more details on the filing.
The second certification applies to other transactions the Code Set rules cover. Specifically, the second certification applies to claims information, enrollment, premium payments, claims attachments, and authorizations or referrals. HHS has not issued any guidance on these certifications yet. These second certifications are also due by December 31, 2015. However, because of the lack of specific guidance, it is very likely this due date may be delayed.
Action Plan
To register for an HPID, employers need to take the following steps:
1. Determine when the plan must obtain an HPID
2. If your plan if fully insured, contact your insurance carrier. It appears most insurance carriers will apply for the HPID for fully insured plans.
3. If your plan is self-funded, schedule time over the next several months to register for an HPID for your health plan. The registration is a CMS-managed online application process. The regulations estimate that it will take 20 -30 minutes to complete the application. Sponsors will be directed to an online enumeration system titled: Health Plan and Other Entity Enumeration System (HPOES).