CMS DELAYS DATA COLLECTION UNDER SUNSHINE ACT
In a May 3 notice on its official blog, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will not require data collection under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), until January 1, 2013. The Sunshine Act requires that physicians report ownership and investment interests in, and payments or gifts that they receive from, manufacturers of drugs, devices and supplies. CMS said that the delay will allow manufacturers to prepare for data submission, and will allow CMS to fully address the input it received in more than 300 comments on the proposed rule.
In a May 3 letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), CMS’s Acting Administrator, Marilyn Tavenner, stated that CMS has established an internal work group and will solicit additional input from stakeholders in attempting to meet the new target date for data collection. Sen. Grassley and Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) co-authored the Sunshine Act and have expressed concern regarding repeated implementation delays.