(a) General requirement. A QHP issuer participating in an Exchange for 2 or more consecutive years must implement and report on a quality improvement strategy including a payment structure that provides increased reimbursement or other market-based incentives in accordance with the health care topic areas in section 1311(g)(1) of the Affordable Care Act, for each QHP offered in an Exchange, consistent with the guidelines developed by HHS under section 1311(g) of the Affordable Care Act.

(b) Data requirement. A QHP issuer must submit data that has been validated in a manner and timeframe specified by the Exchange to support the evaluation of quality improvement strategies in accordance with § 155.200(d) of this subchapter.

(c) Timeline. A QHP issuer must submit data annually to evaluate compliance with the standards for a quality improvement strategy in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section, in a manner and timeframe specified by the Exchange.

(d) Multi-State plans. Issuers of multi-State plans, as defined in § 155.1000(a) of this subchapter, must provide the data described in paragraph (b) of this section to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in the manner and timeframe specified by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.