On November 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a display copy of a final rule, titled Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Disclosures of Ownership and Additional Disclosable Parties Information for Skilled Nursing Facilities and Nursing Facilities; Medicare Providers’ and Suppliers’ Disclosure of Private Equity Companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts . The final rule requires nursing homes to disclose additional ownership and management information to CMS and the states, much of which will be made available to the public by CMS within one year.

The final rule includes definitions of “private equity company (PEC)” and “real estate investment trust (REIT),” to identify whether a nursing home belongs at least in part to one of these types of owners. The only substantive change from the proposed to final rule was that CMS adopted a narrower definition of a REIT that was more consistent with existing Federal policy.

The final rule impacts skilled nursing facility (SNF) providers, as well as Medicaid-only nursing facility (NF) providers and will become effective 60 days after formal publication in the Federal Register. However, many of the new requirements will not be implemented until CMS first updates the CMS-855A institutional provider enrollment form, as well as issues sub-regulatory guidance detailing how and when to identify and report the newly required information.

The final rule does not change the current provider enrollment and revalidation reporting timelines, so there will not be a mass revalidation process upon implementation of the final rule. Instead, after implementation of this final rule, providers will be required to report the newly required transparency data at the time the next required update to their provider enrollment data or revalidation (including off-cycle revalidations). State reporting requirements may vary slightly.

SNF and NF providers are encouraged to review the final rule provisions to become familiar with the upcoming additional provider enrollment disclosure requirements. AHCA has developed a summary of the final rule available for members (log-in required) and will provide additional details as they become available.

Both the CMS press release and fact sheet are also available for review.

View the summary here.