Medicare and Medicaid programs; Medicare-Medicaid coverage data bank requirements: preliminary guidance--HCFA. Notice

This notice informs the public about section 1144 of the Social Security Act, which is self-implementing, and provides preliminary guidance to employers who are required to report information about all individuals covered by group health plans to a newly established Medicare-Medicaid Coverage Data Bank. Information in the data bank will be used to help identify situations where employer group health plans are responsible for making primary payments for services received by Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries. This notice provides: information on the background and legislative authority for the data bank; definitions of key terms; reporting requirements; the identity of entities that are required to, or may, report; reporting dates; penalties for noncompliance; and methods of reporting.