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Health Insurance Reform: Standards for Electronic Transactions

VII. Federalism

Executive Order 13132 of August 4, 1999, Federalism, published in the Federal Register on August 10, 1999 (64 FR 43255) requires us to ensure meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the development of rules that have Federalism implications. Although the proposed rule (63 FR 25272) was published before the enactment of this Executive Order, the Department consulted with State and local officials as part of an outreach program early in the process of developing the proposed regulation. The Department received comments on the proposed rule from State agencies and from entities who conduct transactions with State agencies. Many of the comments referred to the costs incurred by State and local governments which will result from implementation of the HIPAA standards. We assume that government entities will have these costs offset by future savings, consistent with our projections for the private sector. A Congressional Budget Office analysis made the following points: States are already in the forefront of administering the Medicaid program electronically, Medicaid State agencies can compensate (for these costs) by reducing other expenditures, and the Federal government pays a portion of the cost of converting State Medicaid Management Information Systems.

Other comments regarding States expressed the need for clarification as to when State agencies were subject to the standards. Responses to comments from States and State organizations regarding the standard transactions set forth in this rule are found in this preamble.

In complying with the requirements of part C of title XI, the Secretary established interdepartmental implementation teams who consulted with appropriate State and Federal agencies and private organizations. These external groups consisted of the NCVHS Subcommittee on Standards and Security, the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), the National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC), the National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC) and the American Dental Association (ADA). The teams also received comments on the proposed regulation from a variety of organizations, including State Medicaid agencies and other Federal agencies.

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