Gag Clause Prohibition Compliance Attestation

This article provides a summary of the Gag Clause Prohibition Attestation and Instructions on how to attest online

1. In order to attest online, follow the link to the CMS Website here.
2. Select > "Don't have a code or forgot yours?"
3. Enter your email address. Check your email for a code that was sent.
4. Return to the CMS Website and enter your email address and code to login.
   1. You are now on the GCPCA Dashboard. You will note links with the CMS manuals and reporting entity excel template if these are needed for further detail.
5. Click "Start a new Submission" > Enter Submitters contact information.
6. Use the check boxes to identify the type of entity for which the Submitter works. GHP (Group Health Plan).
7. Select the box "Submitter is the same as the Attester". This copies the information from above.
8. If you are submitting on behalf of one plan or issuer, select No.
9. Enter the Name of the reporting entity (Your Company Name). Entity Type > ERISA Plan. Enter your information for Point of Contact. Enter your EIN, Health Insurance Group#, mailing address, email address, and phone number. 
10. Are you attesting for all provider agreements? Yes'
11. Review. Save and Continue.
12. Attestation Page. There are 2 Blocks of writing, check these off. 

What is the Gag Clause Prohibition Compliance Attestation?

Group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage must annually submit a Gag Clause Prohibition Compliance Attestation (GCPCA) to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is collecting the attestations on behalf of the Departments of Labor, HHS, and the Treasury (the Departments). The GCPCA is an attestation of compliance with Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 9824, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) section 724, and Public Health Service (PHS) Act section 2799A-9, as applicable. These provisions generally prohibit plans and issuers from entering into certain provider agreements that would prevent the disclosure of cost or quality of care information or data, and certain other information to active or eligible participants, beneficiaries, enrollees, plan sponsors, or referring providers, or restrict the plan or issuer from sharing such information with a business associate, consistent with applicable privacy regulations. A health care provider, network or association of providers, or other service provider may place reasonable restrictions on the public disclosure of this information. These provisions became effective December 27, 2020. Plans and issuers should use this webform to satisfy the requirement to submit an annual attestation of compliance. Once you have successfully logged in to the GCPCA webform, you will have access to the instructions, a user manual, and an Excel template for multiple Reporting Entities. If you are submitting an attestation on behalf of more than one plan or issuer (a Reporting Entity), prepare a tab-delimited text file using the Reporting Entity Excel Template. Instructions for completing this template are included in sections 2.3 and 2.31 of the Instructions.

What to Expect

Below are the steps you will follow once you’ve accessed the submission dashboard. Refer to the GCPCA Instructions for detailed guidance.

Submission and Attestation Steps:

1. Provide responses regarding the Submitter, Attester, and Reporting Entity on the webform.
2. If attesting for multiple Reporting Entities, complete the Reporting Entity Excel Template, then save it as a tab-delimited text format, and upload it to the webform.
3. Review the information you provided. If the Attester is a different person than the Submitter, the Attester accesses the GCPCA webform to review the information and attest.
4. The Attester electronically signs to attest.
5. Submit the attestation.