[Federal Register: September 30, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 189)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 57164-57166]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30se05-19]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
[CMS-1282-CN]
42 CFR Parts 411 and 424
RIN 0938-AN65
Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated
Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Correction
AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.
ACTION: Final rule; correction notice.
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SUMMARY: This document corrects typographical and technical errors that
appeared in the August 4, 2005 Federal Register, entitled ``Medicare
Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for
Skilled Nursing Facilities for FY 2006.''
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeanette Kranacs, (410) 786-9385. Bill
Ullman, (410) 786-5667. Sheila Lambowitz, (410) 786-7605.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
In FR Doc. 05-15221, (70 FR 45026), the final rule entitled
``Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing
for Skilled Nursing Facilities for FY 2006'' (hereinafter referred to
as the FY 2006 final rule), there were a number of typographical and
technical errors that are identified and corrected in section III.
``Correction of Errors'' below. The provisions of this correction
notice are effective as if they had been included in the FY 2006 final
rule. Accordingly, the corrections are effective on October 1, 2005.
II. Summary of the Corrections to the FY 2006 Final Rule
A. Corrections to the Preamble of the FY 2006 Final Rule
On pages 45046 and 45047, in the preamble discussion of the SNF
market basket index, we inadvertently included incorrect values in the
column labeled ``Relative importance, labor-related, FY 2005 (97
index).'' Therefore, we are revising the second column in Table 11
(``Labor-Related Relative Importance, FY 2005 and FY 2006'') to include
the correct values for the labor share estimate for FY 2005 based on
the 2nd quarter 2004 projection. (See item 1 of section III.A of this
notice.)
B. Corrections to the Regulations Text of the FY 2006 Final Rule
On page 45055, we made a technical error in the regulations text of
title 42, part 411. In this paragraph, we inadvertently excluded the
updated statutory authority citation for this part. As revised by FR
Doc. 05-1321 entitled ``Medicare Program; Medicare Prescription Drug
Benefit'' (70 FR 4525, January 28, 2005), in this notice we are
correcting the regulations text to include Secs. 1102, 1860D-1 through
D-42, and 1871 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1302, 1395w-101
through 1395w-152, and 1395hh). Accordingly, we are now republishing
the corrected statutory authority citation for part 411, as revised by
FR Doc. 05-1321. (See item 1 of section III. B. of this notice.)
Also on page 45055, in our revisions to two different sections of
the regulations text in part 424 of the FY 2006 final rule, we
inadvertently omitted a subpart heading. Specifically, revised Sec.
424.3 and Sec. 424.20 were both displayed as being included within
subpart B of part 424 (``Certification and Plan of Treatment
Requirements''). In fact, only Sec. 424.20 is included within that
subpart, while Sec. 424.3 is included within subpart A (``General
Provisions''). (See items 2 and 3 of section III. B. of this notice.)
C. Corrections of Errors to the Addendum of the FY 2006 Final Rule
Wage index data for two providers were erroneously omitted from the
wage index calculation. This affected the wage index determination for
the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX CBSA and the Nashville-Davidson-
Murfreesboro, TN CBSA. Accordingly,
[[Page 57165]]
we are revising Table 8 and Table A to reflect the correct information.
In addition, both Table 8 and Table A contained a number of technical
and typographical errors. Therefore, we are including the corrected
data in Table 8 and Table A. (See items 1 and 2 of section III.C. of
this notice.)
III. Correction of Errors
In FR Doc. 05-15221 of August 4, 2005 (70 FR 45026), we are making
the following corrections:
A. Corrections to Errors in the Preamble
1. On pages 45046 and 45047, in Table 11--Labor-Related Relative
Importance, FY 2005 is corrected to read as follows:
Table 11.--Labor-Related Relative Importance, FY2005 and FY2006
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Relative Relative
importance,* importance,**
labor-related, labor-related,
FY 2005 (97 FY 2006 (97
index) index)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wages and salaries...................... 54.720 54.391
Employee benefits....................... 11.595 11.648
Nonmedical professional fees............ 2.688 2.739
Labor-intensive services................ 4.125 4.128
Capital-related......................... 3.094 3.016
-----------------
Total............................... 76.222 75.922
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* Source: Global Insights, Inc., formerly DRI-WEFA, 2nd Quarter, 2004.
** Source: Global Insights, Inc., formerly DRI-WEFA, 2nd Quarter, 2005.
B. Corrections of Errors in the Regulations Text
PART 411--[CORRECTED]
0
1. On page 45055, second column, lines 1 through 3, in part 411
(Exclusions From Medicare and Limitations On Medicare Payment), the
authority citation is corrected to read as follows:
Authority: Secs. 1102, 1860D-1 through 1860D-42, and 1871 of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1302, 1395w-101 through 1395w-152,
and 1395hh).
PART 424--[CORRECTED]
0
2. On page 45055, second column, above Sec. 424.3 Definitions, remove
``Subpart B--Certification and Plan of Treatment Requirements'' and add
in its place, ``Subpart A--General Provisions.''
0
3. On page 45055, second column, above amendatory instruction 3., add
the subpart heading to read as follows: ``Subpart B Certification and
Plan of Treatment Requirements.''
C. Corrections to the Addendum
1. On pages 45065, 45069, and 45070 in Table 8.--(``FY 2006 Wage
Index For Urban Areas Based On CBSA Labor Market Areas'') the entries
for the Urban area and Wage index are corrected to read as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Urban area (constituent
CBSA code counties) Wage index
------------------------------------------------------------------------
26420............. Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX.. 0.9996
31900............. Mansfield, OH................... 0.9891
34980............. Nashville-Davidson Murfreesboro, 0.9790
TN.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. On pages 45080 through 45121, the following entries identified
in Table A.--(``FY 2006 SNF PPS Transition Wage Index'') are corrected
to read as follows:
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Transition
SSA State/county code County name MSA No. MSA Urban/rural 2006 MSA- 2006 CBSA- CBSA No. CBSA Urban/rural wage index
based WI based WI *
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01330.................. Geneva County, Alabama 01 Rural.................. 0.7432 0.7721 20020 Urban................. 0.7577
04280.................. Hempstead County, 04 Rural.................. 0.7744 0.7466 99904 Rural................. 0.7605
Arkansas.
11451.................. Fayette County, 0520 Urban.................. 0.9793 0.9793 12060 Urban................. 0.9793
Georgia.
11840.................. Richmond County, 0600 Urban.................. 0.9808 0.9748 12260 Urban................. 0.9778
Georgia.
16350.................. Fremont County, Iowa.. 16 Rural.................. 0.8594 0.8509 99916 Rural................. 0.8552
27130.................. Fergus County, Montana 27 Rural.................. 0.8762 0.8762 99927 Rural................. 0.8762
36710.................. Richland County, Ohio. 4800 Urban.................. 0.9891 0.9891 31900 Urban................. 0.9891
44070.................. Cannon County, 44 Rural.................. 0.7935 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.8863
Tennessee.
44100.................. Cheatham County, 5360 Urban.................. 0.9808 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.9799
Tennessee.
44180.................. Davidson County, 5360 Urban.................. 0.9808 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.9799
Tennessee.
44210.................. Dickson County, 5360 Urban.................. 0.9808 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.9799
Tennessee.
44400.................. Hickman County, 44 Rural.................. 0.7935 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.8863
Tennessee.
44550.................. Macon County, 44 Rural.................. 0.7935 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.8863
Tennessee.
44730.................. Robertson County, 5360 Urban.................. 0.9808 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.9799
Tennessee.
44740.................. Rutherford County, 5360 Urban.................. 0.9808 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.9799
Tennessee.
44790.................. Smith County, 44 Rural.................. 0.7935 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.8863
Tennessee.
44820.................. Sumner County, 5360 Urban.................. 0.9808 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.9799
Tennessee.
[[Page 57166]]
44840.................. Trousdale County, 44 Rural.................. 0.7935 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.8863
Tennessee.
44930.................. Williamson County, 5360 Urban.................. 0.9808 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.9799
Tennessee.
44940.................. Wilson County, 5360 Urban.................. 0.9808 0.9790 34980 Urban................. 0.9799
Tennessee.
45070.................. Austin County, Texas.. 45 Rural.................. 0.7931 0.9996 26420 Urban................. 0.8964
45180.................. Brazoria County, Texas 1145 Urban.................. 0.8563 0.9996 26420 Urban................. 0.9280
45280.................. Chambers County, Texas 3360 Urban.................. 1.0091 0.9996 26420 Urban................. 1.0044
45341.................. Coryell County, Texas. 3810 Urban.................. 0.8526 0.8526 28660 Urban................. 0.8526
45530.................. Fort Bend County, 3360 Urban.................. 1.0091 0.9996 26420 Urban................. 1.0044
Texas.
45550.................. Galveston County, 2920 Urban.................. 0.9635 0.9996 26420 Urban................. 0.9816
Texas.
45610.................. Harris County, Texas.. 3360 Urban.................. 1.0091 0.9996 26420 Urban................. 1.0044
45757.................. Liberty County, Texas. 3360 Urban.................. 1.0091 0.9996 26420 Urban................. 1.0044
45801.................. Montgomery County, 3360 Urban.................. 1.0091 0.9996 26420 Urban................. 1.0044
Texas.
45884.................. San Jacinto County, 45 Rural.................. 0.7931 0.9996 26420 Urban................. 0.8964
Texas.
45950.................. Waller County, Texas.. 3360 Urban.................. 1.0091 0.9996 26420 Urban................. 1.0044
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IV. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking and Delay in Effective Date
We ordinarily publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the
Federal Register to provide a period for public comment before the
provisions of a notice such as this take effect in accordance with
section 553(b) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C.
553(b)). We also ordinarily provide a 30-day delay in the effective
date of the provisions of a notice in accordance with section 553(d) of
the APA (5 U.S.C. 553(d)). However, we can waive both the notice and
comment procedure and the 30-day delay in effective date if the
Secretary finds, for good cause, that a notice and comment process is
impracticable, unnecessary or contrary to the public interest, and
incorporates a statement of the finding and the reasons therefore in
the notice.
We find it unnecessary to undertake notice and comment rulemaking
because this notice merely provides technical and typographical
corrections to the regulations. We are not making substantive changes
to our payment methodologies or policies, but rather, are simply
implementing correctly the payment methodologies and policies that we
previously proposed, received comments on, and subsequently finalized.
The public has already had the opportunity to comment on the payment
methodology and policies being used to calculate wage indexes. In
addition, this correction notice is intended to ensure that the FY 2006
SNF PPS final rule accurately reflects the payment methodologies and
policies adopted in the final rule. Therefore, we believe that
undertaking further notice and comment procedures to incorporate these
corrections into the final rule is unnecessary and contrary to the
public interest.
Further, we believe a delayed effective date is unnecessary because
this correction notice merely corrects inadvertent technical and
typographical errors. The changes noted above do not make any
substantive changes to the SNF PPS payment methodologies or policies.
Moreover, we regard imposing a delay in the effective date as being
contrary to the public interest. We believe that it is in the public
interest for providers to receive appropriate SNF PPS payments in as
timely a manner as possible and to ensure that the FY 2006 SNF PPS
final rule accurately reflects our payment methodologies, payment
rates, and policies. Therefore, we find good cause to waive notice and
comment procedures, as well as the 30-day delay in effective date.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 93.773,
Medicare--Hospital Insurance; and Program No. 93.774, Medicare--
Supplementary Medical Insurance Program).
Dated: September 28, 2005.
Ann C. Agnew,
Executive Secretary to the Department.
[FR Doc. 05-19762 Filed 9-29-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P