§ 438.2 - Definitions.

§ 438.2 Definitions.

As used in this part—

Abuse means as the term is defined in § 455.2 of this chapter.

Actuary means an individual who meets the qualification standards established by the American Academy of Actuaries for an actuary and follows the practice standards established by the Actuarial Standards Board. In this part, Actuary refers to an individual who is acting on behalf of the State when used in reference to the development and certification of capitation rates.

Capitation payment means a payment the State makes periodically to a contractor on behalf of each beneficiary enrolled under a contract and based on the actuarially sound capitation rate for the provision of services under the State plan. The State makes the payment regardless of whether the particular beneficiary receives services during the period covered by the payment.

Choice counseling means the provision of information and services designed to assist beneficiaries in making enrollment decisions; it includes answering questions and identifying factors to consider when choosing among managed care plans and primary care providers. Choice counseling does not include making recommendations for or against enrollment into a specific MCO, PIHP, or PAHP.

Comprehensive risk contract means a risk contract between the State and an MCO that covers comprehensive services, that is, inpatient hospital services and any of the following services, or any three or more of the following services:

(1) Outpatient hospital services.

(2) Rural health clinic services.

(3) Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) services.

(4) Other laboratory and X-ray services.

(5) Nursing facility (NF) services.

(6) Early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment (EPSDT) services.

(7) Family planning services.

(8) Physician services.

(9) Home health services.

Enrollee means a Medicaid beneficiary who is currently enrolled in an MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity in a given managed care program.

Enrollee encounter data means the information relating to the receipt of any item(s) or service(s) by an enrollee under a contract between a State and a MCO, PIHP, or PAHP that is subject to the requirements of §§ 438.242 and 438.818.

Federally qualified HMO means an HMO that CMS has determined is a qualified HMO under section 1310(d) of the PHS Act.

Fraud means as the term is defined in § 455.2 of this chapter.

Health insuring organization (HIO) means a county operated entity, that in exchange for capitation payments, covers services for beneficiaries—

(1) Through payments to, or arrangements with, providers;

(2) Under a comprehensive risk contract with the State; and

(3) Meets the following criteria—

(i) First became operational prior to January 1, 1986; or

(ii) Is described in section 9517(c)(3) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (as amended by section 4734 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 and section 205 of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008).

In lieu of service or setting (ILOS) is a service or setting that is provided to an enrollee as a substitute for a covered service or setting under the State plan in accordance with § 438.3(e)(2). An ILOS can be used as an immediate or longer-term substitute for a covered service or setting under the State plan, or when the ILOS can be expected to reduce or prevent the future need to utilize the covered service or setting under the State plan.

Long-term services and supports (LTSS) means services and supports provided to beneficiaries of all ages who have functional limitations and/or chronic illnesses that have the primary purpose of supporting the ability of the beneficiary to live or work in the setting of their choice, which may include the individual's home, a worksite, a provider-owned or controlled residential setting, a nursing facility, or other institutional setting.

Managed care organization (MCO) means an entity that has, or is seeking to qualify for, a comprehensive risk contract under this part, and that is—

(1) A Federally qualified HMO that meets the advance directives requirements of subpart I of part 489 of this chapter; or

(2) Any public or private entity that meets the advance directives requirements and is determined by the Secretary to also meet the following conditions:

(i) Makes the services it provides to its Medicaid enrollees as accessible (in terms of timeliness, amount, duration, and scope) as those services are to other Medicaid beneficiaries within the area served by the entity.

(ii) Meets the solvency standards of § 438.116.

Managed care program means a managed care delivery system operated by a State as authorized under sections 1915(a), 1915(b), 1932(a), or 1115(a) of the Act.

Material adjustment means an adjustment that, using reasonable actuarial judgment, has a significant impact on the development of the capitation payment such that its omission or misstatement could impact a determination whether the development of the capitation rate is consistent with generally accepted actuarial principles and practices.

Network provider means any provider, group of providers, or entity that has a network provider agreement with a MCO, PIHP, or PAHP, or a subcontractor, and receives Medicaid funding directly or indirectly to order, refer or render covered services as a result of the state's contract with an MCO, PIHP, or PAHP. A network provider is not a subcontractor by virtue of the network provider agreement.

Nonrisk contract means a contract between the State and a PIHP or PAHP under which the contractor—

(1) Is not at financial risk for changes in utilization or for costs incurred under the contract that do not exceed the upper payment limits specified in § 447.362 of this chapter; and

(2) May be reimbursed by the State at the end of the contract period on the basis of the incurred costs, subject to the specified limits.

Overpayment means any payment made to a network provider by a MCO, PIHP, or PAHP to which the network provider is not entitled to under Title XIX of the Act or any payment to a MCO, PIHP, or PAHP by a State to which the MCO, PIHP, or PAHP is not entitled to under Title XIX of the Act.

Potential enrollee means a Medicaid beneficiary who is subject to mandatory enrollment or may voluntarily elect to enroll in a given MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM or PCCM entity, but is not yet an enrollee of a specific MCO, PIHP, PAHP, PCCM, or PCCM entity.

Prepaid ambulatory health plan (PAHP) means an entity that—

(1) Provides services to enrollees under contract with the State, and on the basis of capitation payments, or other payment arrangements that do not use State plan payment rates.

(2) Does not provide or arrange for, and is not otherwise responsible for the provision of any inpatient hospital or institutional services for its enrollees; and

(3) Does not have a comprehensive risk contract.

Prepaid inpatient health plan (PIHP) means an entity that—

(1) Provides services to enrollees under contract with the State, and on the basis of capitation payments, or other payment arrangements that do not use State plan payment rates.

(2) Provides, arranges for, or otherwise has responsibility for the provision of any inpatient hospital or institutional services for its enrollees; and

(3) Does not have a comprehensive risk contract.

Primary care means all health care services and laboratory services customarily furnished by or through a general practitioner, family physician, internal medicine physician, obstetrician/gynecologist, pediatrician, or other licensed practitioner as authorized by the State Medicaid program, to the extent the furnishing of those services is legally authorized in the State in which the practitioner furnishes them.

Primary care case management means a system under which:

(1) A primary care case manager (PCCM) contracts with the State to furnish case management services (which include the location, coordination and monitoring of primary health care services) to Medicaid beneficiaries; or

(2) A PCCM entity contracts with the State to provide a defined set of functions.

Primary care case management entity (PCCM entity) means an organization that provides any of the following functions, in addition to primary care case management services, for the State:

(1) Provision of intensive telephonic or face-to-face case management, including operation of a nurse triage advice line.

(2) Development of enrollee care plans.

(3) Execution of contracts with and/or oversight responsibilities for the activities of FFS providers in the FFS program.

(4) Provision of payments to FFS providers on behalf of the State.

(5) Provision of enrollee outreach and education activities.

(6) Operation of a customer service call center.

(7) Review of provider claims, utilization and practice patterns to conduct provider profiling and/or practice improvement.

(8) Implementation of quality improvement activities including administering enrollee satisfaction surveys or collecting data necessary for performance measurement of providers.

(9) Coordination with behavioral mental and substance use disorder health systems /and providers.

(10) Coordination with long-term services and supports systems/providers.

Primary care case manager (PCCM) means a physician, a physician group practice or, at State option, any of the following:

(1) A physician assistant.

(2) A nurse practitioner.

(3) A certified nurse-midwife.

Provider means any individual or entity that is engaged in the delivery of services, or ordering or referring for those services, and is legally authorized to do so by the State in which it delivers the services.

Rate cell means a set of mutually exclusive categories of enrollees that is defined by one or more characteristics for the purpose of determining the capitation rate and making a capitation payment; such characteristics may include age, gender, eligibility category, and region or geographic area. Each enrollee should be categorized in one of the rate cells for each unique set of mutually exclusive benefits under the contract.

Rating period means a period of 12 months selected by the State for which the actuarially sound capitation rates are developed and documented in the rate certification submitted to CMS as required by § 438.7(a).

Risk contract means a contract between the State an MCO, PIHP or PAHP under which the contractor—

(1) Assumes risk for the cost of the services covered under the contract; and

(2) Incurs loss if the cost of furnishing the services exceeds the payments under the contract.

State means the Single State agency as specified in § 431.10 of this chapter.

State directed payment (SDP) means a contract arrangement that directs an MCO's, PIHP's, or PAHP's expenditures under § 438.6(c).

Subcontractor means an individual or entity that has a contract with an MCO, PIHP, PAHP, or PCCM entity that relates directly or indirectly to the performance of the MCO's, PIHP's, PAHP's, or PCCM entity's obligations under its contract with the State. A network provider is not a subcontractor by virtue of the network provider agreement with the MCO, PIHP, or PAHP.

[81 FR 27853, May 6, 2016, as amended at 89 FR 41267, May 10, 2024]