The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has issued an updated notice indicating that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) expected release of its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposals for “future medicals” has been pushed back to February 2020.
It is widely anticipated that CMS’s forthcoming proposals will focus heavily on the “future medicals” issue in relation to liability claims (i.e. liability Medicare set-asides). The full text of OIRA’s latest notice states that “[t]his proposed rule would ensure that beneficiaries are making the best healthcare choices possible by providing them and their representatives with the opportunity to select an option for meeting future medical obligations that fits their individual circumstances, while also protecting the Medicare Trust Fund.”
In the bigger picture, this is the third delay this year pertaining to CMS’s release of its forthcoming proposals. By way of background, OIRA’s initial notice targeted release for September 2019, with this date then delayed to October 2019. Now, as reflected above, the new notice pushes back expected release of the proposals until sometime in February 2020.
ISO Claims Partners will continue to monitor this situation and provide future updates as warranted. In the interim, please do not hesitate to contact the author if you have any questions.