On February 1, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the long-awaited Final Rule to implement the “Sunshine” provisions of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). The Sunshine provisions – intended to provide increased transparency on the scope and nature of financial and other relationships among manufacturers, physicians, and teaching hospitals – require that certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals, and medical supplies covered by Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP report annually to HHS identified payments or transfers of value they have made to physicians and teaching hospitals. In addition, they require manufacturers and certain group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to report to HHS information on physician ownership and investment interests.
The Final Rule provides needed clarity on some troubling aspects of the proposal, however, it leaves a number of questions unanswered. Please click here to read our detailed analysis of the Sunshine provisions, including an overview and summary of the Rule as well as discussion of the important issues that stakeholders should be considering as they prepare for Sunshine implementation.