[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: 42CFR422.205]

[Page 867]
 
                         TITLE 42--PUBLIC HEALTH
 
                             HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 422--MEDICARE+CHOICE PROGRAM--Table of Contents
 
                 Subpart E--Relationships With Providers
 
Sec. 422.205  Provider antidiscrimination rules.

    (a) General rule. Consistent with the requirements of this section, 
the policies and procedures concerning provider selection and 
credentialing established under Sec. 422.204, and with the requirement 
under Sec. 422.100(c) that all Medicare-covered services be available to 
M+C plan enrollees, an M+C organization may select the practitioners 
that participate in its plan provider networks. In selecting these 
practitioners, an M+C organization may not discriminate, in terms of 
participation, reimbursement, or indemnification, against any health 
care professional who is acting within the scope of his or her license 
or certification under State law, solely on the basis of the license or 
certification. If an M+C organization declines to include a given 
provider or group of providers in its network, it must furnish written 
notice to the effected provider(s) of the reason for the decision.
    (b) Construction. The prohibition in paragraph (a)(1) of this 
section does not preclude any of the following by the M+C organization:
    (1) Refusal to grant participation to health care professionals in 
excess of the number necessary to meet the needs of the plan's enrollees 
(except for M+C private-fee-for-service plans, which may not refuse to 
contract on this basis).
    (2) Use of different reimbursement amounts for different specialties 
or for different practitioners in the same specialty.
    (3) Implementation of measures designed to maintain quality and 
control costs consistent with its responsibilities.

[65 FR 40324, June 29, 2000]

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