CMS has published a final rule revising Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D prescription drug benefit regulations for CY 2016. Among other things, the final rule:

• Implements a statutory provision requiring MA and Part D contracts to provide the right to “timely”’ inspection and audit and allowing CMS to require MA organizations or Part D prescription drug plan (PDP) sponsors to hire an independent auditor to validate correction of CMS audit findings.
• Establishes U.S. citizenship and lawful presence as an eligibility requirement for enrollment in MA and Part D plans (effective June 1, 2015).
• Makes several policy changes intended to promote efficient dispensing of drugs in long-term care (LTC) facilities, including prohibiting payment arrangements that penalize the adoption of more efficient LTC dispensing techniques by prorating dispensing fees based on days’ supply or quantity dispensed, and requiring that any difference in payment methodology among LTC pharmacies incentivizes more efficient dispensing techniques.
• Requires MA Prescription Drug (MA-PD) plans to establish and maintain a process with network pharmacies to ensure timely and accurate point-of-sale transactions and coordinate Part A, Part B, and Part D drug benefits administered by the MA PD plan.
• Requires a sponsor’s Pharmacy & Therapeutics committee to document its process for an objective party to determine whether disclosed financial interests are conflicts of interest and management of any recusals due to conflicts.

Other provisions of the rule address, among other things, business continuity for MA organizations and PDP sponsors; codification of recent quality improvement program policies; and notification requirements related to changes to Part D plans. CMS is not finalizing a number of proposals included in the January 2014 proposed rule, including provisions that would have: lifted the protected class designation on three drug classes; required Medicare Part D sponsors to include in preferred networks any pharmacy willing to accept the sponsor’s terms and conditions; reduced the number of Part D plans a sponsor may offer; and codified CMS interpretation of the Part D non-interference clause.