We previously wrote about the deadline for plan sponsors of self-insured health plans to obtain a health plan identifier (HPID). For large self-insured health plans (receipts over $5 million), the deadline to obtain the HPID was November 5, 2014. On the eve of the deadline, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an indefinite delay in enforcement of the HPID requirement and the use of the HPID in HIPAA covered transactions.
Even though the HPID process for plan sponsors was difficult to navigate, we were surprised by the delay. One possible explanation is that CMS is trying to remove the HPID responsibility from the health plan sponsor and shift it to the third-party administrator that is handling the claims for the plan. That would be welcome news for plan sponsors.
