The US Department of Health and Human Services has formally shared responsibility for excluding individuals and entities from federal healthcare programmes with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a power previously held solely by the HHS Office of Inspector General. A Federal Register notice published 14 October took effect immediately. HHS-OIG retains sole authority over mandatory exclusions — its existing powers are unchanged — but CMS can now independently pursue permissive exclusions, bringing its direct administration of Medicare and Medicaid to bear on investigating suspected healthcare fraud and developing the evidentiary basis for exclusion determinations. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said CMS is "uniquely positioned" to do so as the agency directly responsible for administering the programmes. For covered entities the practical effect is a second enforcement pathway able to bar providers, suppliers and individuals from programme participation without OIG action.

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