[Federal Register: February 27, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 38)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 8867-8868]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27fe09-9]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
42 CFR Parts 401 and 405
[CMS-4064-RCN2]
RIN 0938-AM73
Medicare Program; Changes to the Medicare Claims Appeal
Procedures; Continuation of Effectiveness and Extension of Timeline for
Publication of Final Rule
AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.
ACTION: Interim final rule with comment period; continuation of
effectiveness and extension of timeline for publication of final rule.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the continuation of effectiveness of a
Medicare interim final rule with comment period and the extension of
the timeline for publication of the final rule. This notice is issued
in accordance with section 1871(a)(3)(C) of the Social Security Act
(the Act), which allows an interim final rule to remain in effect after
the expiration of the timeline specified in section 1871(a)(3)(B) of
the Act (the ``regular timeline'') or, if applicable, at the end of
each succeeding 1-year extension to the regular timeline, if prior to
the expiration of the timeline, the Secretary publishes in the Federal
Register a notice of continuation and explains why the regular timeline
or any subsequent extension was not complied with.
DATES: Effective Date: February 27, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Danek, (617) 565-2682. Arrah
Tabe-Bedward, (410) 786-7129.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 8868]]
I. Background
Section 1871(a)(3)(A) of the Act requires the Secretary, in
consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB), to establish and publish a regular timeline for the publication
of a final rule based on the previous publication of a proposed rule or
an interim final rule. In accordance with section 1871(a)(3)(B) of the
Act, such regular timeline may vary among different regulations, based
on the complexity of the rule, the number and scope of the comments
received, and other relevant factors. The timeline for publishing the
final regulation, however, cannot exceed 3 years from the date of
publication of the proposed or interim final rule, unless there are
exceptional circumstances. After consultation with the Director of OMB,
we published a notice in the Federal Register on December 30, 2004 (69
FR 78442) establishing a general 3-year timeline for finalizing a
Medicare proposed and an interim final rule.
Section 1871(a)(3)(C) of the Act states that a Medicare interim
final rule shall not continue in effect if the final rule is not
published before the expiration of the regular timeline and, if
applicable, before the expiration of each succeeding one-year period,
unless the Secretary publishes at the end of the regular timeline and
any subsequent 1-year extension a notice of continuation that includes
an explanation of why the regular or previously extended timeline was
not met. Upon publication of such a notice, the regular timeline or
such timeline as previously extended for publishing the final rule is
extended for 1 year.
II. Notice of Continuation
Section 521 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits
Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA), amended section 1869 of
the Act to provide for significant changes to the Medicare claims
appeal procedures. On November 15, 2002, we published in the Federal
Register a proposed rule (67 FR 69312) consistent with Section 521 of
BIPA. An interim final rule with comment period implementing the BIPA
provisions as well as further changes to the claim appeals procedures
enacted in Title IX of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and
Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) appeared in the Federal Register in
March 2005 (70 FR 11420). Under the regular timeline for publication of
a final rule, we were required to publish a final rule responding to
public comments on the interim final rule with comment period no later
than March 1, 2008. However, on February 29, 2008, we published in the
Federal Register a continuation notice entitled ``Medicare Program;
Changes to the Medicare Claims Appeal Procedures; Continuation of
Effectiveness and Extension of Timeline for Publication of Final Rule''
to extend the timeline for publication of the final rule for 1 year
until March 1, 2009 (73 FR 11043).
This notice announces an additional extension of the timeline for
publication of the final rule and the continuation of effectiveness of
the March 2005 interim final rule with comment period. We are not able
to meet the timeline for publication of the final rule due to the need
to allow an opportunity for full consideration of issues of law and
policy raised in the regulation. We believe it is necessary and
appropriate to delay publication of this final rule in order to afford
the President's appointees and designees an opportunity to further
review and consider the laws and policies that will be set forth in the
final rule.
Therefore, this notice extends the timeline for publication of the
final rule until March 1, 2010. In accordance with section
1871(a)(3)(C) of the Act, the interim final rule with comment period
shall remain in effect through March 1, 2010 (unless the final rule is
published and becomes effective before March 1, 2010).
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 93.773,
Medicare--Hospital Insurance Program; and No. 93.774, Medicare--
Supplementary Medical Insurance Program)
Dated: February 23, 2009.
Ashley Files Flory,
Deputy Executive Secretary to the Department.
[FR Doc. E9-4223 Filed 2-26-09; 8:45 am]
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