This subpart implements sections 1866(j), 1902(a)(39), 1902(a)(77), and 1902(a)(78) of the Act. It sets forth State plan requirements regarding the following:

(a) Provider screening and enrollment requirements.

(b) Fees associated with provider screening.

(c) Temporary moratoria on enrollment of providers.

A State plan must provide that the requirements of § 455.410 through § 455.450 and § 455.470 are met.

(a) The State Medicaid agency must require all enrolled providers to be screened under to this subpart.

(b) The State Medicaid agency must require all ordering or referring physicians or other professionals providing services under the State plan or under a waiver of the plan to be enrolled as participating providers.

(c) The State Medicaid agency may rely on the results of the provider screening performed by any of the following:

(1) Medicare contractors.

(2) Medicaid agencies or Children's Health Insurance Programs of other States.

(d) The State Medicaid agency must allow enrollment of all Medicare-enrolled providers and suppliers for purposes of processing claims to determine Medicare cost-sharing (as defined in section 1905(p)(3) of the Act) if the providers or suppliers meet all Federal Medicaid enrollment requirements, including, but not limited to, all applicable provisions of 42 CFR part 455, subparts B and E. This paragraph (d) applies even if the Medicare-enrolled provider or supplier is of a type not recognized by the State Medicaid Agency.

The State Medicaid agency must—

(a) Have a method for verifying that any provider purporting to be licensed in accordance with the laws of any State is licensed by such State.

(b) Confirm that the provider's license has not expired and that there are no current limitations on the provider's license.

The State Medicaid agency must revalidate the enrollment of all providers regardless of provider type at least every 5 years.

The State Medicaid agency—

(a) Must terminate the enrollment of any provider where any person with a 5 percent or greater direct or indirect ownership interest in the provider did not submit timely and accurate information and cooperate with any screening methods required under this subpart.

(b) Must deny enrollment or terminate the enrollment of any provider where any person with a 5 percent or greater direct or indirect ownership interest in the provider has been convicted of a criminal offense related to that person's involvement with the Medicare, Medicaid, or title XXI program in the last 10 years, unless the State Medicaid agency determines that denial or termination of enrollment is not in the best interests of the Medicaid program and the State Medicaid agency documents that determination in writing.

(c) Must deny enrollment or terminate the enrollment of any provider that is terminated on or after January 1, 2011, under title XVIII of the Act and under the Medicaid program or CHIP of any other State, and is currently included in the termination database under § 455.417.

(d) Must terminate the provider's enrollment or deny enrollment of the provider if the provider or a person with an ownership or control interest or who is an agent or managing employee of the provider fails to submit timely or accurate information, unless the State Medicaid agency determines that termination or denial of enrollment is not in the best interests of the Medicaid program and the State Medicaid agency documents that determination in writing.

(e) Must terminate or deny enrollment if the provider, or any person with a 5 percent or greater direct or indirect ownership interest in the provider, fails to submit sets of fingerprints in a form and manner to be determined by the Medicaid agency within 30 days of a CMS or a State Medicaid agency request, unless the State Medicaid agency determines that termination or denial of enrollment is not in the best interests of the Medicaid program and the State Medicaid agency documents that determination in writing.

(f) Must terminate or deny enrollment if the provider fails to permit access to provider locations for any site visits under § 455.432, unless the State Medicaid agency determines that termination or denial of enrollment is not in the best interests of the Medicaid program and the State Medicaid agency documents that determination in writing.

(g) May terminate or deny the provider's enrollment if CMS or the State Medicaid agency—

(1) Determines that the provider has falsified any information provided on the application; or

(2) Cannot verify the identity of any provider applicant.

(a)(1) Subject to paragraph (c) of this section, a provider remains in the termination notification database referenced in section 1902(ll) of the Act for a period that is the lesser of:

(i) The length of the termination period imposed by the State that initially terminated the provider or the reenrollment bar (as described in § 424.535(c) of this chapter) imposed by the Medicare program in the case of a Medicare revocation; or

(ii) 10 years (for those Medicaid or CHIP terminations that are greater than 10 years).

(2) All other State Medicaid agencies or CHIPs must terminate or deny the provider from their respective programs (pursuant to § 455.416(c)) for at least the same length of time as the termination database period described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section.

(b)(1) Nothing in paragraph (a) of this section prohibits:

(i) The initially terminating State from imposing a termination period of greater than 10 years consistent with that State's laws, or

(ii) Another State from terminating the provider, based on the original State's termination, for a period:

(A) Of greater than 10 years; or

(B) That is otherwise longer than that imposed by the initially terminating State.

(2) The period established under paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section must be no shorter than the period in which the provider is to be included in the termination database under paragraph (a) of this section.

(c)(1) If the initially terminating State agency or the Medicare program reinstates the provider prior to the end of the termination period originally imposed by the initially terminating State agency or Medicare, CMS removes the provider from the termination database after the reinstatement has been reported to CMS.

(2) If the provider is removed from the database pursuant to paragraph (c)(1), CMS may immediately reinclude the provider in the database (with no interval between the 2 periods) if a basis for doing so exists under part 455 or 424 of this chapter.

(d) For purposes of this section only, terminations under § 455.416(c) are not considered “for cause” terminations and therefore need not be reported to CMS for inclusion in the termination database.

After deactivation of a provider enrollment number for any reason, before the provider's enrollment may be reactivated, the State Medicaid agency must re-screen the provider and require payment of associated provider application fees under § 455.460.

The State Medicaid agency must give providers terminated or denied under § 455.416 any appeal rights available under procedures established by State law or regulations.

The State Medicaid agency—

(a) Must conduct pre-enrollment and post-enrollment site visits of providers who are designated as “moderate” or “high” categorical risks to the Medicaid program. The purpose of the site visit will be to verify that the information submitted to the State Medicaid agency is accurate and to determine compliance with Federal and State enrollment requirements.

(b) Must require any enrolled provider to permit CMS, its agents, its designated contractors, or the State Medicaid agency to conduct unannounced on-site inspections of any and all provider locations.

The State Medicaid agency—

(a) As a condition of enrollment, must require providers to consent to criminal background checks including fingerprinting when required to do so under State law or by the level of screening based on risk of fraud, waste or abuse as determined for that category of provider.

(b) Must establish categorical risk levels for providers and provider categories who pose an increased financial risk of fraud, waste or abuse to the Medicaid program.

(1) Upon the State Medicaid agency determining that a provider, or a person with a 5 percent or more direct or indirect ownership interest in the provider, meets the State Medicaid agency's criteria hereunder for criminal background checks as a “high” risk to the Medicaid program, the State Medicaid agency will require that each such provider or person submit fingerprints.

(2) The State Medicaid agency must require a provider, or any person with a 5 percent or more direct or indirect ownership interest in the provider, to submit a set of fingerprints, in a form and manner to be determined by the State Medicaid agency, within 30 days upon request from CMS or the State Medicaid agency.

The State Medicaid agency must do all of the following:

(a) Confirm the identity and determine the exclusion status of providers and any person with an ownership or control interest or who is an agent or managing employee of the provider through routine checks of Federal databases.

(b) Check the Social Security Administration's Death Master File, the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE), the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS), and any such other databases as the Secretary may prescribe.

(c)(1) Consult appropriate databases to confirm identity upon enrollment and reenrollment; and

(2) Check the LEIE and EPLS no less frequently than monthly.

The State Medicaid agency must require all claims for payment for items and services that were ordered or referred to contain the National Provider Identifier (NPI) of the physician or other professional who ordered or referred such items or services.

A State Medicaid agency must screen all initial applications, including applications for a new practice location, and any applications received in response to a re-enrollment or revalidation of enrollment request based on a categorical risk level of “limited,” “moderate,” or “high.” If a provider could fit within more than one risk level described in this section, the highest level of screening is applicable.

(a) Screening for providers designated as limited categorical risk. When the State Medicaid agency designates a provider as a limited categorical risk, the State Medicaid agency must do all of the following:

(1) Verify that a provider meets any applicable Federal regulations, or State requirements for the provider type prior to making an enrollment determination.

(2) Conduct license verifications, including State licensure verifications in States other than where the provider is enrolling, in accordance with § 455.412.

(3) Conduct database checks on a pre- and post-enrollment basis to ensure that providers continue to meet the enrollment criteria for their provider type, in accordance with § 455.436.

(b) Screening for providers designated as moderate categorical risk. When the State Medicaid agency designates a provider as a “moderate” categorical risk, a State Medicaid agency must do both of the following:

(1) Perform the “limited” screening requirements described in paragraph (a) of this section.

(2) Conduct on-site visits in accordance with § 455.432.

(c) Screening for providers designated as high categorical risk. When the State Medicaid agency designates a provider as a “high” categorical risk, a State Medicaid agency must do both of the following:

(1) Perform the “limited” and “moderate” screening requirements described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section.

(2)(i) Conduct a criminal background check; and

(ii) Require the submission of a set of fingerprints in accordance with § 455.434.

(d) Denial or termination of enrollment. A provider, or any person with 5 percent or greater direct or indirect ownership in the provider, who is required by the State Medicaid agency or CMS to submit a set of fingerprints and fails to do so may have its—

(1) Application denied under § 455.434; or

(2) Enrollment terminated under § 455.416.

(e) Adjustment of risk level. The State agency must adjust the categorical risk level from “limited” or “moderate” to “high” when any of the following occurs:

(1) The State Medicaid agency imposes a payment suspension on a provider based on credible allegation of fraud, waste or abuse, the provider has an existing Medicaid overpayment, or the provider has been excluded by the OIG or another State's Medicaid program within the previous 10 years.

(2) The State Medicaid agency or CMS in the previous 6 months lifted a temporary moratorium for the particular provider type and a provider that was prevented from enrolling based on the moratorium applies for enrollment as a provider at any time within 6 months from the date the moratorium was lifted.

Nothing in this subpart must restrict the State Medicaid agency from establishing provider screening methods in addition to or more stringent than those required by this subpart.

(a) Beginning on or after March 25, 2011, States must collect the applicable application fee prior to executing a provider agreement from a prospective or re-enrolling provider other than either of the following:

(1) Individual physicians or nonphysician practitioners.

(2)(i) Providers who are enrolled in either of the following:

(A) Title XVIII of the Act.

(B) Another State's title XIX or XXI plan.

(ii) Providers that have paid the applicable application fee to—

(A) A Medicare contractor; or

(B) Another State.

(b) If the fees collected by a State agency in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section exceed the cost of the screening program, the State agency must return that portion of the fees to the Federal government.

(a)(1) The Secretary consults with any affected State Medicaid agency regarding imposition of temporary moratoria on enrollment of new providers or provider types prior to imposition of the moratoria, in accordance with § 424.570 of this chapter.

(2) The State Medicaid agency will impose temporary moratoria on enrollment of new providers or provider types identified by the Secretary as posing an increased risk to the Medicaid program.

(3)(i) The State Medicaid agency is not required to impose such a moratorium if the State Medicaid agency determines that imposition of a temporary moratorium would adversely affect beneficiaries' access to medical assistance.

(ii) If a State Medicaid agency makes such a determination, the State Medicaid agency must notify the Secretary in writing.

(b)(1) A State Medicaid agency may impose temporary moratoria on enrollment of new providers, or impose numerical caps or other limits that the State Medicaid agency identifies as having a significant potential for fraud, waste, or abuse and that the Secretary has identified as being at high risk for fraud, waste, or abuse.

(2) Before implementing the moratoria, caps, or other limits, the State Medicaid agency must determine that its action would not adversely impact beneficiaries' access to medical assistance.

(3) The State Medicaid agency must notify the Secretary in writing in the event the State Medicaid agency seeks to impose such moratoria, including all details of the moratoria; and obtain the Secretary's concurrence with imposition of the moratoria.

(c)(1) The State Medicaid agency must impose the moratorium for an initial period of 6 months.

(2) If the State Medicaid agency determines that it is necessary, the State Medicaid agency may extend the moratorium in 6-month increments.

(3) Each time, the State Medicaid agency must document in writing the necessity for extending the moratorium.