123STA T .97PUBLIC LA W 111 – 3 —FE B. 4, 2 0 09 (A)clear l yd e fin ed cri t eria f o r error s for b ot hS tates and p ro v iders
( B ) a clearly defined process for appealin g error deter -m inations by — (i) revie w contractors; or (ii) the agency and personnel described in section 431.97 4(a)( 2 ) of title 42 ,C ode of F ederal R eg u lations, as in effect on September 1, 2 0 07, responsible for the development, direction, implementation, and evalua- tion of eligibility reviews and associated activities; and (C) clearly defined responsibilities and deadlines for States in implementing any corrective action plans; and (2) provide that the payment error rate determined for a State shall not ta k e into account payment errors resulting from the State ’ s verification of an applicant’s self-declaration or self-certification of eligibility for, and the correct amount of, medical assistance or child health assistance, if the State process for verifying an applicant’s self-declaration or self-cer- tification satisfies the re q uirements for such process applicable under regulations promulgated by the Secretary or otherwise approved by the Secretary. (d) OPTIONF O R APP L I CA TION OF D ATA FOR STAT ES IN FIRST APPLICATION C Y CLE U N D ERT H E I NTERI M FINAL R U LE.—After the new final rule implementing the PE R M requirements in accordance with the requirements of subsection (c) is in effect for all States, a State for which the PERM requirements were first in effect under an interim final rule for fiscal year 2007 or under a final rule for fiscal year 200 8 may elect to accept any payment error rate determined in whole or in part for the State on the basis of data for that fiscal year or may elect to not have any payment error rate determined on the basis of such data and, instead, shall be treated as if fiscal year 2010 or fiscal year 2011 were the first fiscal year for which the PERM requirements apply to the State. (e) H ARMONI Z ATION OF ME Q C AND PERM.— (1) REDUCTION OF REDUNDANCIES.— T he Secretary shall review the Medicaid Eligibility Quality Control (in this sub- section referred to as the ‘ ‘MEQC’’) requirements with the PERM requirements and coordinate consistent implementation of both sets of requirements, while reducing redundancies. (2) STATE OPTION TO APPLY PERM DATA.—A State may elect, for purposes of determining the erroneous e x cess payments for medical assistance ratio applicable to the State for a fiscal year under section 1903(u) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 139 6 b(u)) to substitute data resulting from the application of the PERM requirements to the State after the new final rule implementing such requirements is in effect for all States for data obtained from the application of the MEQC requirements to the State with respect to a fiscal year. (3) STATE OPTION TO APPLY ME Q C DATA.—For purposes of satisfying the requirements of subpart Q of part 431 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, relating to Medicaid eligibility reviews, a State may elect to substitute data obtained through MEQC reviews conducted in accordance with section 1903(u) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(u)) for data required for purposes of PERM requirements, but only if the State
