(a) Application for approval. An enrollee satisfaction survey vendor must be approved by HHS, in a form and manner to be determined by HHS, to administer, on behalf of a QHP issuer, enrollee satisfaction surveys to QHP enrollees. HHS will approve enrollee satisfaction survey vendors on an annual basis, and each enrollee satisfaction survey vendor must submit an application for each year that approval is sought.

(b) Standards. To be approved by HHS, an enrollee satisfaction survey vendor must meet each of the following standards:

(1) Sign and submit an application form for approval in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section;

(2) Ensure, on an annual basis, that appropriate staff participate in enrollee satisfaction survey vendor training and successfully complete a post-training certification exercise as established by HHS;

(3) Ensure the accuracy of their data collection, calculation and submission processes and attest to HHS the veracity of the data and these processes;

(4) Sign and execute a standard HHS data use agreement, in a form and manner to be determined by HHS, that establishes protocols related to the disclosure, use, and reuse of HHS data;

(5) Adhere to the enrollee satisfaction survey protocols and technical specifications in a manner and form required by HHS;

(6) Develop and submit to HHS a quality assurance plan and any supporting documentation as determined to be relevant by HHS. The plan must describe in adequate detail the implementation of and compliance with all required protocols and technical specifications described in paragraph (b)(5) of this section;

(7) Adhere to privacy and security standards established and implemented under § 155.260 of this subchapter by the Exchange with which they are associated;

(8) Comply with all applicable State and Federal laws;

(9) Become a registered user of the enrollee satisfaction survey data warehouse to submit files to HHS on behalf of its authorized QHP contracts;

(10) Participate in and cooperate with HHS oversight for quality-related activities, including, but not limited to: review of the enrollee satisfaction survey vendor's quality assurance plan and other supporting documentation; analysis of the vendor's submitted data and sampling procedures; and site visits and conference calls; and,

(11) Comply with minimum business criteria as established by HHS.

(c) Approved list. A list of approved enrollee satisfaction survey vendors will be published on an HHS Web site.

(d) Monitoring. HHS will periodically monitor HHS-approved enrollee satisfaction survey vendors to ensure ongoing compliance with the standards in paragraph (b) of this section. If HHS determines that an HHS-approved enrollee satisfaction survey vendor is non-compliant with the standards required in paragraph (b) of this section, the survey vendor may be removed from the approved list described in paragraph (c) of this section and/or the submitted survey results may be ineligible to be included for ESS results.

(e) Appeals. An enrollee satisfaction survey vendor that is not approved by HHS after submitting the application described in paragraph (a) of this section may appeal HHS's decision by notifying HHS in writing within 15 days from receipt of the notification of not being approved and submitting additional documentation demonstrating how the vendor meets the standards in paragraph (b) of this section. HHS will review the submitted documentation and make a final approval determination within 30 days from receipt of the additional documentation.

(a) Patient safety standards. A QHP issuer that contracts with a hospital with greater than 50 beds must verify that the hospital, as defined in section 1861(e) of the Act:

(1) For plan years beginning before January 1, 2017, is Medicare-certified or has been issued a Medicaid-only CMS Certification Number (CCN) and is subject to the Medicare Hospital Conditions of Participation requirements for—

(i) A quality assessment and performance improvement program as specified in 42 CFR 482.21; and

(ii) Discharge planning as specified in 42 CFR 482.43.

(2) For plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2017—

(i)(A) Utilizes a patient safety evaluation system as defined in 42 CFR 3.20; and

(B) Implements a mechanism for comprehensive person-centered hospital discharge to improve care coordination and health care quality for each patient; or

(ii) Implements an evidence-based initiative, to improve health care quality through the collection, management and analysis of patient safety events that reduces all cause preventable harm, prevents hospital readmission, or improves care coordination.

(3) A QHP issuer must ensure that each of its QHPs meets the patient safety standards in accordance with this section.

(b) Documentation. A QHP issuer must collect:

(1) For plan years beginning before January 1, 2017, the CCN from each of its contracted hospitals with greater than 50 beds, to demonstrate that those hospitals meet patient safety standards required in paragraph (a)(1) of this section; and

(2) For plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, information, from each of its contracted hospitals with greater than 50 beds, to demonstrate that those hospitals meet patient safety standards required in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

(c) Reporting. (1) A QHP issuer must make available to the Exchange the documentation referenced in paragraph (b) of this section, upon request by the Exchange, in a time and manner specified by the Exchange.

(2) Issuers of multi-State plans, as defined in § 155.1000(a) of this subchapter, must provide the documentation described in paragraph (b) of this section to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in the time and manner specified by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

(a) Data submission requirement. (1) A QHP issuer must submit data to HHS and Exchanges to support the calculation of quality ratings for each QHP that has been offered in an Exchange for at least one year.

(2) In order to ensure the integrity of the data required to calculate the QRS, a QHP issuer must submit data that has been validated in a form and manner specified by HHS.

(3) A QHP issuer must include in its data submission information only for those QHP enrollees at the level specified by HHS.

(b) Timeline. A QHP issuer must annually submit data necessary to calculate the QHP's quality ratings to HHS and Exchanges, on a timeline and in a standardized form and manner specified by HHS.

(c) Marketing requirement. A QHP issuer may reference the quality ratings for its QHPs in its marketing materials, in a manner specified by HHS.

(d) Multi-State plans. Issuers of multi-State plans, as defined in § 155.1000(a) of this subchapter, must provide the data described in paragraph (a) of this section to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in the time and manner specified by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

(a) General requirement. A QHP issuer must contract with an HHS-approved enrollee satisfaction survey (ESS) vendor, as identified by § 156.1105, in order to administer the Enrollee Satisfaction Survey of the QHP's enrollees. A QHP issuer must authorize its contracted ESS vendor to report survey results to HHS and the Exchange on the issuer's behalf.

(b) Data requirement. (1) A QHP issuer must collect data for each QHP, with more than 500 enrollees in the previous year that has been offered in an Exchange for at least one year and following a survey sampling methodology provided by HHS.

(2) In order to ensure the integrity of the data required to conduct the survey, a QHP issuer must submit data that has been validated in a form and manner specified by HHS, and submit this data to its contracted ESS vendor.

(3) A QHP issuer must include in its data submission information only for those QHP enrollees at the level specified by HHS.

(c) Marketing requirement. A QHP issuer may reference the survey results for its QHPs in its marketing materials, in a manner specified by HHS.

(d) Timeline. A QHP issuer must annually submit data necessary to conduct the survey to its contracted ESS vendor on a timeline and in a standardized form and manner specified by HHS.

(e) Multi-State plans. Issuers of multi-State plans, as defined in § 155.1000(a) of this subchapter, must provide the data described in paragraph (b) of this section to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in the time and manner specified by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

(a) General requirement. A QHP issuer participating in an Exchange for 2 or more consecutive years must implement and report on a quality improvement strategy including a payment structure that provides increased reimbursement or other market-based incentives in accordance with the health care topic areas in section 1311(g)(1) of the Affordable Care Act, for each QHP offered in an Exchange, consistent with the guidelines developed by HHS under section 1311(g) of the Affordable Care Act.

(b) Data requirement. A QHP issuer must submit data that has been validated in a manner and timeframe specified by the Exchange to support the evaluation of quality improvement strategies in accordance with § 155.200(d) of this subchapter.

(c) Timeline. A QHP issuer must submit data annually to evaluate compliance with the standards for a quality improvement strategy in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section, in a manner and timeframe specified by the Exchange.

(d) Multi-State plans. Issuers of multi-State plans, as defined in § 155.1000(a) of this subchapter, must provide the data described in paragraph (b) of this section to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in the manner and timeframe specified by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.