(a) Application for approval. An enrollee satisfaction survey vendor must be approved by HHS, in a form and manner to be determined by HHS, to administer, on behalf of a QHP issuer, enrollee satisfaction surveys to QHP enrollees. HHS will approve enrollee satisfaction survey vendors on an annual basis, and each enrollee satisfaction survey vendor must submit an application for each year that approval is sought.
(b) Standards. To be approved by HHS, an enrollee satisfaction survey vendor must meet each of the following standards:
(1) Sign and submit an application form for approval in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section;
(2) Ensure, on an annual basis, that appropriate staff participate in enrollee satisfaction survey vendor training and successfully complete a post-training certification exercise as established by HHS;
(3) Ensure the accuracy of their data collection, calculation and submission processes and attest to HHS the veracity of the data and these processes;
(4) Sign and execute a standard HHS data use agreement, in a form and manner to be determined by HHS, that establishes protocols related to the disclosure, use, and reuse of HHS data;
(5) Adhere to the enrollee satisfaction survey protocols and technical specifications in a manner and form required by HHS;
(6) Develop and submit to HHS a quality assurance plan and any supporting documentation as determined to be relevant by HHS. The plan must describe in adequate detail the implementation of and compliance with all required protocols and technical specifications described in paragraph (b)(5) of this section;
(7) Adhere to privacy and security standards established and implemented under § 155.260 of this subchapter by the Exchange with which they are associated;
(8) Comply with all applicable State and Federal laws;
(9) Become a registered user of the enrollee satisfaction survey data warehouse to submit files to HHS on behalf of its authorized QHP contracts;
(10) Participate in and cooperate with HHS oversight for quality-related activities, including, but not limited to: review of the enrollee satisfaction survey vendor's quality assurance plan and other supporting documentation; analysis of the vendor's submitted data and sampling procedures; and site visits and conference calls; and,
(11) Comply with minimum business criteria as established by HHS.
(c) Approved list. A list of approved enrollee satisfaction survey vendors will be published on an HHS Web site.
(d) Monitoring. HHS will periodically monitor HHS-approved enrollee satisfaction survey vendors to ensure ongoing compliance with the standards in paragraph (b) of this section. If HHS determines that an HHS-approved enrollee satisfaction survey vendor is non-compliant with the standards required in paragraph (b) of this section, the survey vendor may be removed from the approved list described in paragraph (c) of this section and/or the submitted survey results may be ineligible to be included for ESS results.
(e) Appeals. An enrollee satisfaction survey vendor that is not approved by HHS after submitting the application described in paragraph (a) of this section may appeal HHS's decision by notifying HHS in writing within 15 days from receipt of the notification of not being approved and submitting additional documentation demonstrating how the vendor meets the standards in paragraph (b) of this section. HHS will review the submitted documentation and make a final approval determination within 30 days from receipt of the additional documentation.
[78 FR 65105, Oct. 30, 2013, as amended at 79 FR 30351, May 27, 2014]