[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 42, Volume 2]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 42CFR422.156]

[Page 861-862]
 
                         TITLE 42--PUBLIC HEALTH
 
                             HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 422--MEDICARE+CHOICE PROGRAM--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart D--Quality Assurance
 
Sec. 422.156  Compliance deemed on the basis of accreditation.

    (a) General rule. An M+C organization is deemed to meet all of the 
requirements of any of the areas described in paragraph (b) of this 
section if--
    (1) The M+C organization is fully accredited (and periodically 
reaccredited) for the standards related to the applicable area under 
paragraph (b) of this section by a private, national accreditation 
organization approved by CMS; and
    (2) The accreditation organization used the standards approved by 
CMS for the purposes of assessing the M+C organization's compliance with 
Medicare requirements.
    (b) Deemable requirements. The requirements relating to the 
following areas are deemable:
    (1) Quality assurance.
    (2) Antidiscrimination.
    (3) Access to services.
    (4) Confidentiality and accuracy of enrollee records.
    (5) Information on advance directives.
    (6) Provider participation rules.
    (c) Effective date of deemed status. The date on which the 
organization is deemed to meet the applicable requirements is the later 
of the following:
    (1) The date on which the accreditation organization is approved by 
CMS.
    (2) The date the M+C organization is accredited by the accreditation 
organization.

[[Page 862]]

    (d) Obligations of deemed M+C organizations. An M+C organization 
deemed to meet Medicare requirements must--
    (1) Submit to surveys by CMS to validate its accreditation 
organization's accreditation process; and
    (2) Authorize its accreditation organization to release to CMS a 
copy of its most recent accreditation survey, together with any survey-
related information that CMS may require (including corrective action 
plans and summaries of unmet CMS requirements).
    (e) Removal of deemed status. CMS removes part or all of an M+C 
organization's deemed status for any of the following reasons:
    (1) CMS determines, on the basis of its own investigation, that the 
M+C organization does not meet the Medicare requirements for which 
deemed status was granted.
    (2) CMS withdraws its approval of the accreditation organization 
that accredited the M+C organization.
    (3) The M+C organization fails to meet the requirements of paragraph 
(d) of this section.
    (f) Enforcement authority. CMS retains the authority to initiate 
enforcement action against any M+C organization that it determines, on 
the basis of its own survey or the results of an accreditation survey, 
no longer meets the Medicare requirements for which deemed status was 
granted.

[63 FR 35082, June 26, 1998, as amended at 65 FR 40323, June 29, 2000; 
65 FR 59749, Oct. 6, 2000]