Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 21, 2012 / Notices 16551 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–9996–N3] 

Early Retiree Reinsurance Program 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice establishes a 

timeframe by which plan sponsors 

participating in the Early Retiree 

Reinsurance Program (ERRP) are 

expected to use ERRP reimbursement 

funds. Sponsors are expected to use 

such funds as soon as possible, but not 

later than December 31, 2014. 

DATES: Effective Date: This notice is 

effective March 16, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David Mlawsky, (410) 786–6851. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Patient Protection and Affordable 

Care Act (Pub. L. 111–148, enacted on 

March 23, 2010) (the Affordable Care 

Act), included a provision that 

established the temporary Early Retiree 

Reinsurance Program (ERRP) which 

provides reimbursement to eligible 

sponsors of employment-based plans for 

a portion of the costs of providing 

health coverage to early retirees (and 

eligible spouses, surviving spouses, and 

dependents of such retirees), during the 

period beginning on the date on which 

the program is established, and ending 

on January 1, 2014. Section 1102(a)(l) of 

the Affordable Care Act required the 

Secretary to establish the program 

within 90 days of enactment of the law 

(by June 21, 2010). In the May 5, 2010 

Federal Register (75 FR 24450), we 

published an interim final regulation 

with comment period, implementing the 

program as of June 1, 2010. Section 

1102(e) of the Affordable Care Act 

appropriates funding of $5 billion for 

the temporary program. 

Consistent with section 1102(c)(4) of 

the Affordable Care Act, the rule at 45 

CFR 149.200 states: 

A sponsor must use the proceeds under 

this program to—(1) reduce the sponsor’s 

health benefit premiums or health benefit 

costs, (2) reduce health benefit premium 

contributions, copayments, deductibles, 

coinsurance, or other out-of-pocket costs, or 

any combination of these costs, for plan 

participants, or (3) reduce any combination 

of the costs in (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section. 

Proceeds under this program must not be 

used as general revenue for the sponsor. 

We have published several guidance 

documents that further clarify this 

section of the rule (see the Guidance on 

Complying with the Prohibition on 

Using Early Retiree Reinsurance 

Program Reimbursements as General 

Revenue under the Regulations and 

Guidance section of www.errp.gov, and 

the Common Questions under the Use of 

Reimbursement section at 

www.errp.gov). 

We have provided the available ERRP 

funds to reimburse plan sponsors’ 

eligible early retiree health care costs 

with the expectation that plan sponsors 

will use the funds in an allowable 

manner, as outlined in 45 CFR 149.200, 

as soon as possible after receiving ERRP 

funds. In February 2012, we released 

Common Question 800–13, which 

provided the date, December 31, 2014, 

by which plan sponsors are expected to 

use the received funds. 

II. Provisions of This Notice 

Section 1102(c)(4) of the Affordable 

Care Act, immediately following its 

discussion of how ERRP 

reimbursements may be used, states: 

‘‘The Secretary shall develop a 

mechanism to monitor the appropriate 

use of such payments by such entities.’’ 

We believe that one necessary 

component of such a mechanism is a 

deadline by when plan sponsors are 

expected to use ERRP reimbursements. 

Thus, one of the Common Questions we 

have published to clarify the ERRP rule 

at 45 CFR 149.200 sets forth our 

expectation as to when a plan sponsor 

that has received ERRP reimbursement 

will use that reimbursement (Common 

Question 800–13). This notice reiterates 

and formalizes our expectation that a 

sponsor will use ERRP reimbursement 

funds as soon as possible, but not later 

than December 31, 2014. We believe this 

deadline is consistent with the January 

1, 2014 statutory end date of the ERRP, 

and also affords plan sponsors the 

flexibility and time they may need in 

order to appropriately use ERRP 

reimbursement. 

Common Question 800–13 also states, 

and we reiterate in this notice, that a 

sponsor is not required to use ERRP 

reimbursement funds by the end of the 

plan year in which they are received. 

Sponsors may use ERRP reimbursement 

funds in a manner permitted under the 

statute, regulation, and other ERRP 

program guidance. 

III. Collection of Information 

Requirements 

This document does not impose any 

new information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Consequently, it need not be reviewed 

by the Office of Management and 

Budget under the authority of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

However, the information collection 

requirements associated with the ERRP 

are currently approved under OMB 

control number 0938–1087, with an 

expiration date of September 30, 2014. 

Authority: Sections 1102(a)(l) and 

1102(c)(4) of the Affordable Care Act (42 

U.S.C. 18002(a)(l) and(c)(4)). 

Dated: March 13, 2012. 

Marilyn Tavenner, 

Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare 

& Medicaid Services. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6728 Filed 3–16–12; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Food and Drug Administration 

[Docket No. FDA–2012–N–0001] 

Standards for Private Laboratory 

Analytical Packages and Introduction 

to Laboratory Related Portions of the 

Food Modernization Safety Act for 

Private Laboratory Managers 

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, 

HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of meetings. 

The Food and Drug Administration 

(FDA) is announcing two meetings 

entitled ‘‘Standards for Private 

Laboratory Analytical Packages and 

Introduction to Laboratory Related 

Portions of the Food Modernization 

Safety Act for Private Laboratory 

Managers.’’ The topic to be discussed is 

the quality standards expected in all 

analytical packages and an introduction 

to sections of the Food Safety 

Modernization Act of January 6, 2011, 

that affect laboratories. 

Date and Time: The meetings will be 

held on April 3, 2012, from 1 p.m. to 

4:30 p.m. in Bothell, WA, and on April 

5, 2012, from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in 

Oakland, CA. 

Location: The meeting in Bothell, 

WA, will be held at the FDA Seattle 

District Office, 22201 23rd Dr. SE., 

Bothell, WA 98021. The Oakland, CA, 

meeting will be held in the R. Dellums 

Federal Building, Conference Room 

A/B, 2nd Floor North, 1301 Clay St., 

Oakland, CA 94612. 

Contact: R.V. Asmundson, Food and 

Drug Administration, 1301 Clay St., 

Suite 1180N, Oakland, CA 94612–5217, 

510–287–2715, FAX: 510–287–3739, 

email: rod.asmundson@fda.hhs.gov. 

Registration: Send registration 

information (including name, title, firm 


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