[Federal Register: December 30, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 250)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 79664-79665]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30de08-18]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
42 CFR Parts 411, 412, 413, 422, and 489
[CMS-1390-CN2; CMS-1531-CN; CMS-1385-CN2]
RIN 0938-AP15; RIN 0938-AO35; RIN 0938-AO65
Medicare Program; Changes to the Hospital Inpatient Prospective
Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2009 Rates; Payments for Graduate
Medical Education in Certain Emergency Situations; Changes to
Disclosure of Physician Ownership in Hospitals and Physician Self-
Referral Rules; Updates to the Long-Term Care Prospective Payment
System; Updates to Certain IPPS-Excluded Hospitals; and Collection of
Information Regarding Financial Relationships Between Hospitals;
Correction
AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.
ACTION: Correction of final rules.
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SUMMARY: This document corrects errors that appeared in the correction
notice published in the October 3, 2008 Federal Register entitled
``Medicare Program; Changes to the Hospital Inpatient Prospective
Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2009 Rates; Payments for Graduate
Medical Education in Certain Emergency Situations; Changes to
Disclosure of Physician Ownership in Hospitals and Physician Self-
Referral Rules; Updates to the Long-Term Care Prospective Payment
System; Updates to Certain IPPS-Excluded Hospitals; and Collection of
Information Regarding Financial Relationships Between Hospitals;
Correction.''
DATES: Effective Date: This notice is effective December 30, 2008.
Applicability Date: This correction notice is applicable to
discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tzvi Hefter (410) 786-4487.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
In FR Doc. E8-23082 of October 3, 2008 (73 FR 57541), the
correction notice entitled ``Medicare Program; Changes to the Hospital
Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2009 Rates;
Payments for Graduate Medical Education in Certain Emergency
Situations; Changes to Disclosure of Physician Ownership in
[[Page 79665]]
Hospitals and Physician Self-Referral Rules; Updates to the Long-Term
Care Prospective Payment System; Updates to Certain IPPS-Excluded
Hospitals; and Collection of Information Regarding Financial
Relationships Between Hospitals; Correction'' there were inadvertent
errors that are identified and corrected in the Correction of Errors
section of this correction notice.
On page 57543, there were errors in Tables 2 and 3B. In Table 2,
for provider number 300005, we made a typographical error and included
erroneous average hourly wage data for this provider. Therefore, in
section II. of this correction notice, we have corrected the FY 2009
and 3-year average hourly wage data for this provider. In Table 3B, for
the nonurban area of New Hampshire (CBSA 30), we inadvertently
neglected to include the corrected average hourly wage data and instead
included the average hourly wage data from the FY 2009 inpatient
prospective payment systems (IPPS) final rule (73 FR 48881). Therefore,
in section II. of this correction notice, we have corrected the FY 2009
and 3-year average hourly wage data for this nonurban area. We note the
corrections presented in this notice would subsequently correct the
average hourly wage data errors in Tables 2 and 3B of the FY 2009
inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) final rule. We also note
that the FY 2009 final rates published in the October 3, 2008 Federal
Register (73 FR 57888) reflected the correct average hourly wage data
for provider number 30005 and the nonurban area of New Hampshire (CBSA
code 30); therefore the payment rates associated with this data are not
being corrected.
II. Correction of Errors
In FR Doc. E8-23082 of October 3, 2008 (73 FR 57541), make the
following corrections:
1. On page 57543,
a. Bottom of the second column and the top of the third column,
last and first partial paragraphs, item 1, in Table 2.--Hospital Case-
Mix Indexes for Discharges Occurring in Federal Fiscal Year 2007;
Hospital Wage Indexes for Federal Fiscal Year 2009; Hospital Average
Hourly Wages for Federal Fiscal Years 2007 (2003 Wage Data), 2008 (2004
Wage Data), and 2009 (2005 Wage Data); and 3-Year Average of Hospital
Average Hourly Wages, the FY 2009 average hourly wage and the 3-year
average hourly wage for provider number 300005 are corrected to read as
follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average hourly
Provider No. Average hourly wage\*\\*\ (3
wage FY 2009\1\ years)
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300005................................ 28.8402 28.1813
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b. Third column, first paragraph, item 2, Table 3B.--FY 2009 and 3-
Year* Average Hourly Wage for Rural Areas by CBSA, the FY 2009 Average
Hourly Wage and 3-Year Average Hourly wage for the CBSA Code 30 are
corrected to read as follows:
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FY 2009
CBSA code Nonurban area average hourly 3-Year average
wage hourly wage
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30........................................... New Hampshire.................. 33.2602 32.8266
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III. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking and Delay in Effective Date
We do not consider this correction notice to constitute a rule
under 5 U.S.C. 553(b). The notice corrects average hourly wage data
based upon policies already adopted in the FY 2009 IPPS final rule.
Nevertheless, even if this correction notice could be viewed as
substantive rule for which a notice of proposed rulemaking and delayed
effective date were necessary under sections 553(b) and 553(d) of the
Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553(b) and 553(d)), we can
waive this notice and comment procedure and delay in effective date if
the Secretary finds, for good cause, that such procedures are
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and
incorporates a statement of the finding and the reasons therefore in
the notice.
Section 553(d) of the APA ordinarily requires a 30-day delay in
effective date of final rules after the date of their publication in
the Federal Register. This 30-day delay in effective date can be
waived, however, if an agency finds for good cause that the delay is
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and the
agency incorporates a statement of the findings and its reasons in the
rule issued. Therefore, we are waiving proposed rulemaking and the 30-
day delayed effective date for the technical corrections in this
notice. This notice merely corrects typographical errors in entries of
two tables of the addendum of the FY 2009 IPPS final rule and does not
make substantive changes to the policies or payment methodologies that
were adopted in the final rule. In addition, this notice contains
corrections to the average hourly wage data published in the October 3,
2008 Federal Register and does not make any changes to the final FY
2009 payment rates. As a result, this notice is intended to ensure that
the FY 2009 IPPS final rule accurately reflects the policies adopted in
the final rule. Therefore, we find that undertaking further notice and
comment procedures to incorporate these corrections into the final rule
or delaying the effective date of these changes is unnecessary and
contrary to the public interest.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 93.773,
Medicare--Hospital Insurance; and Program No. 93.774, Medicare--
Supplementary Medical Insurance Program)
Dated: December 22, 2008.
Ann C. Agnew,
Executive Secretary to the Department.
[FR Doc. E8-31013 Filed 12-29-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P