Department of Health and Human Services – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This proposed rule would update the hospice wage index, payment rates, and aggregate cap amount for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. This rule proposes changes to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program. This rule also proposes to adopt the most recent Office of Management and Budget statistical area delineations, which would change the hospice wage index. This rule proposes to clarify current policy related to the "election statement" and the "notice of election", as well as to add clarifying language regarding hospice certification. Finally, this rulemaking solicits comments regarding potential implementation of a separate payment mechanism to account for high intensity palliative care services.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing an opportunity for the public to comment on CMS' intention to collect information from the public. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information (including each proposed extension or reinstatement of an existing collection of information) and to allow 60 days for public comment on the proposed action. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding our burden estimates or any other aspect of this collection of information, including the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency's functions, the accuracy of the estimated burden, ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled "Data Integrity for In Vivo Bioavailability and Bioequivalence Studies." The purpose of this guidance is to provide recommendations to applicants and testing site management on achieving and maintaining data integrity for the clinical and bioanalytical portions of bioavailability (BA) and bioequivalence (BE) studies submitted in support of investigational new drug applications (INDs), new drug applications (NDAs), abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs), and the bioanalytical portion of clinical pharmacologic studies supporting Center for Drug Evaluation and Research-regulated biologic license applications (BLAs) as well as amendments and supplements to these applications. In addition, the recommendations in this guidance apply to the bioanalytical portion of nonclinical studies. FDA also encourages applicants and testing sites to consider these recommendations when conducting other studies, including in vitro and pharmacology and toxicology studies.

This rulemaking proposes to update the prospective payment rates, the outlier threshold, and the wage index for Medicare inpatient hospital services provided by Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPF), which include psychiatric hospitals and excluded psychiatric units of an acute care hospital or critical access hospital. This rulemaking also proposes to revise the patient-level adjustment factors, the Emergency Department adjustment, and the payment amount for electroconvulsive therapy. These proposed changes would be effective for IPF discharges occurring during the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025 (FY 2025). In addition, this proposed rule seeks to adopt a new quality measure and modify reporting requirements under the IPF Quality Reporting Program beginning with the FY 2027 payment determination. Furthermore, this proposed rule solicits comments through Requests for Information (RFIs) regarding potential future revisions to the IPF PPS facility-level adjustments and regarding the development of a standardized IPF Patient Assessment Instrument.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public during the review and approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 30-day comment period for this notice has closed.

In compliance with the requirement of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the Secretary (OS), Department of Health and Human Services, is publishing the following summary of a proposed collection for public comment.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled "Draft Guidance on Oxymetazoline Hydrochloride." The draft guidance, when finalized, will provide product-specific recommendations on, among other things, the design of bioequivalence (BE) studies to support abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) for oxymetazoline hydrochloride ophthalmic solution.

In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA announces plans to submit an Information Collection Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Prior to submitting the ICR to OMB, HRSA seeks comments from the public regarding the burden estimate, below, or any other aspect of the ICR.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public during the review and approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 30-day comment period for this notice has closed.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a final guidance for industry entitled "Electronic Submission of Expedited Safety Reports From IND-Exempt BA/BE Studies." This guidance provides instructions for the electronic submission of expedited individual case safety reports (ICSRs) from investigational new drug (IND)-exempt bioavailability (BA)/bioequivalence (BE) studies to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). This guidance finalizes the draft guidance entitled "Electronic Submission of Expedited Safety Reports From IND-Exempt BA/BE Studies" issued on August 3, 2022.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is seeking nominations for membership on the Communications and Public Engagement Workgroup (CPEW) of the Advisory Committee to the Director, CDC. The CPEW consists of approximately 15 members who are experts in fields associated with communications, including public relations, health communication, risk communication, communication research, and marketing; community and partner engagement; public health science and practice, including implementation; and behavioral science/behavior change campaigns.

Notice is hereby given that the Indian Health Service (IHS) has updated the geographic boundaries of the purchased/referred care delivery area (PRCDA) for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to include the counties of Carroll and Jackson in the State of Mississippi and the county of Lauderdale in the State of Tennessee. The PRCDA for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians now comprises the Mississippi counties of Attala, Carroll, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Kemper, Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Scott, and Winston, and the Tennessee county of Lauderdale. The sole purpose of this expansion is to authorize additional Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians members and beneficiaries to receive purchased/referred care (PRC) services.

As stipulated by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is hereby giving notice that the Advisory Committee on Minority Health (ACMH) will hold a meeting conducted as a webcast on April 18, 2024. This virtual meeting will be open to the public. Registration is required for the public to attend the meeting, provide comment, and/or distribute material(s) to ACMH members. Any individual who wishes to participate in the virtual meeting should register using the Zoom registration link provided below by 5:00 p.m. EDT on April 12, 2024. Instructions regarding participating in the call and providing written or verbal public comments will be provided after meeting registration occurs. Information about the meeting will be posted on the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) website: www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov. Information about ACMH activities can be found on the OMH website under the heading About OMH, Committees and Working Groups.

In compliance with the requirement of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the Secretary (OS), Department of Health and Human Services, is publishing the following summary of a proposed collection for public comment.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing to collect data from Eligible Afghan Arrivals (EAAs) in need of direct legal services through Immigration Legal Services for Afghan Arrivals (ILSAA) to determine eligibility.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a final guidance for industry entitled "Providing Regulatory Submissions in Electronic Format: IND Safety Reports." This guidance finalizes the draft guidance of the same name published on October 30, 2019, and describes the electronic format sponsors will be required to use when they electronically submit investigational new drug application (IND) safety reports to the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) or the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) for serious and unexpected suspected adverse reactions, as required by FDA regulations. FDA is establishing the electronic format requirements described in this guidance under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). The requirements in the guidance will be effective 24 months after the date of publication (April 1, 2026). Certain sponsors will be required to submit the specified IND safety reports electronically to FDA using the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) as structured data elements, which will provide sponsors with a reporting format that is consistent with the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) E2B format guidelines and reporting requirements to other regulatory agencies.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act this notice announces that the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC or Committee) has scheduled a public meeting. Information about ACHDNC and the agenda for this meeting can be found on the ACHDNC website at https://www.hrsa.gov/advisory- committees/heritable-disorders/.