The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on November 15 placed on display in the Federal Register a final rule requiring nursing homes enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid to disclose and submit certain ownership, managerial, and other information to CMS and state Medicaid agencies. LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan issued a press statement upon the rule’s release.
The action finalizes a proposal CMS released in February 2023, and the final regulatory language is the same as what CMS proposed, with two technical changes. CMS and states already collect some of the information addressed in the rule, but there would be new data submissions too, including additional disclosable parties and the addition of data elements to the CMS-855A form through which owning and managing entities of skilled nursing facilities would have to disclose whether they are either a private equity company or a Real Estate Investment Trust.
LeadingAge submitted comments on the proposed rule in April expressing support for transparency with respect to ownership and operation, but also asking CMS to take steps to clarify and lessen the burden of data submission. While the final rule does not incorporate changes from what CMS originally proposed, LeadingAge will continue to engage with CMS as it moves toward implementation of the requirements.
The rule takes effect January 16, 2024, but nursing homes will not be expected to comply until CMS and states (with respect to Medicaid enrollment) have completed additional work needed to collect the information the rule requires to be submitted. This CMS fact sheet provides an overview of the rule, and LeadingAge will soon publish an article with additional analysis.
On the day of the rule’s release, LeadingAge was quick to respond, quoted in media coverage in trade outlets McKnight’s Long-Term Care and Skilled Nursing News.
Read our full press release here.
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