Internal Revenue Service Issues Guidance On New Research Fee

Proposed regulations provide detail on who must pay the new patient-centered outcomes research fee, the amount of the fee, and how the fee is to be calculated and reported.

On April 17, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued proposed regulations on the patient-centered outcomes research fee created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The fee, which starts at $1 per covered life beginning in 2012 and is scheduled to phase out in six years, will be used to fund the research of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) created by PPACA. The PCORI's publicly available research is intended to assist healthcare consumers, payors, and providers in making informed decisions about the most effective forms of healthcare and benefits coverage.