On May 3, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS) officially announced that it will delay data-collection
and reporting requirements under the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act's (ACA) Physician Payments Sunshine Act
(the "Sunshine Act"), due in part to the large number of
comments received in response to CMS's December 19, 2011, proposed rules. Data collection by CMS will
not start until at least January 1, 2013.
The Sunshine Act imposes two reporting requirements:
Covered manufacturers must annually report payments or gifts to
physicians or teaching hospitals; and
Covered manufacturers and group purchasing organizations must
annually report physician ownership and investment interests.
Although the Sunshine Act does not require report submissions
until March 31, 2013, the first reporting period will cover
payments made during fiscal year 2012. Thus, even though CMS will
not promulgate final rules until later this year, covered
manufacturers and group may want to create internal procedures to
collect the necessary data as soon as possible.
If you have any questions about this Alert,
please contact Frederick R. Ball, Elinor L. Hart, any member of the
Pharmaceutical, Pharmacy & Food industry group or the attorney
in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.
This article is for general information and does not include
full legal analysis of the matters presented. It should not be
construed or relied upon as legal advice or legal opinion on any
specific facts or circumstances. The description of the results of
any specific case or transaction contained herein does not mean or
suggest that similar results can or could be obtained in any other
matter. Each legal matter should be considered to be unique and
subject to varying results. The invitation to contact the authors
or attorneys in our firm is not a solicitation to provide
professional services and should not be construed as a statement as
to any availability to perform legal services in any jurisdiction
in which such attorney is not permitted to practice.
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a full-service law firm with more than 700 attorneys in 24 offices
in the United States and internationally, offers innovative
solutions to the legal and business challenges presented by
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Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.
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