Medicare Program; Approved Renewal of Deeming Authority of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for Medicare Advantage Health Maintenance Organizations and Preferred Provider Organizations

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS-4216-FN] AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This notice announces our decision to approve the National Committee for Quality Assurance's renewal application for Medicare Advantage “deeming authority” of Health Maintenance Organizations and Preferred Provider Organizations for a term of 6 years. DATES: The notice is published on July 27, 2026. Applicability Date: The approval communicated in this notice is applicable May 18, 2026 through May 18, 2032. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dawn Johnson Scott, (410) 786-3159 or Katie Schenck, (410) 786-0628. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background Under the Medicare program, eligible beneficiaries may receive covered services through a Medicare Advantage (MA) organization that contracts with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The regulations specifying the Medicare requirements that must be met for a Medicare Advantage Organization (MAO) to enter into a contract with CMS are located at 42 CFR 422.503(b) . These regulations implement Part C of Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (the Act), which specifies the services that an MAO must provide and the requirements that the organization must meet to enter into an MA contract with CMS. Generally, for an entity to be an MAO, the organization must be licensed under Stat…