On May 28, 2008, CMS published a final rule allowing Part D claims data to be shared with other agencies, states, researchers, and beneficiaries for use in program monitoring, research, public health, care coordination, quality improvement, population of personal health records, and other purposes. CMS notes that it has adopted a number of improvements to the rule to provide additional protections for commercially-sensitive plan data. For instance, the program will not share Part D plan-specific bid data, rebates, risk-sharing, reinsurance, or payment information collected outside of a Part D claim, and cost data elements will be aggregated. Additional CMS information regarding the rule is posted here. On June 11, 2008, CMS is hosting a “Special Open Door Forum” phone conference to discuss the rule. The call will take place from 3:30pm–5:00pm eastern time. To participate, dial 1-800-837-1935 and reference Conference ID: 50230963.
