Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Fiscal Year 2014 Rates; Quality Reporting Requirements for Specific Providers; Hospital Conditions of Participation; Payment Policies Related to Patient Status; Corrections, 1741-1742 [2014-00273]

Agencies

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 7 (Friday, January 10, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1741-1742]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00273]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

42 CFR Parts 412, 413, 414, 419, 424, 482, 485, and 489

[CMS-1599-CN4]
RIN 0938-AR53


Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems 
for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective 
Payment System and Fiscal Year 2014 Rates; Quality Reporting 
Requirements for Specific Providers; Hospital Conditions of 
Participation; Payment Policies Related to Patient Status; Corrections

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.

ACTION: Final rule; correction.

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SUMMARY: This document corrects technical errors in the correcting 
document that appeared in the January 2, 2014 Federal Register entitled 
``Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for 
Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective 
Payment System and Fiscal Year 2014 Rates; Quality Reporting 
Requirements for Specific Providers; Hospital Conditions of 
Participation; Payment Policies Related to Patient Status; 
Corrections.''

DATES: Effective Date: This correcting document is effective January 8, 
2014.
    Applicability Date: This correcting document is applicable on 
January 1, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tzvi Hefter, (410) 786-4487.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    In the August 19, 2013 Federal Register (78 FR 50495), we published 
a final rule entitled ``Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient 
Prospective Payment

[[Page 1742]]

Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long Term Care Hospital 
Prospective Payment System and Fiscal Year 2014 Rates; Quality 
Reporting Requirements for Specific Providers; Hospital Conditions of 
Participation; Payment Policies Related to Patient Status'' 
(hereinafter referred to as the FY 2014 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule). To 
correct typographical and technical errors in the FY 2014 IPPS/LTCH PPS 
final rule, we published correcting documents that appeared in the 
October 3, 2013 Federal Register (78 FR 61197) and the January 2, 2014 
Federal Register (79 FR 61). We left out Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) part numbers from the heading and left out the applicability date 
from the DATES section of the January 2, 2014 correcting document. 
Therefore, in this correcting document, we add the omitted CFR part 
numbers and the applicability date.

II. Summary of Errors

    On page 61 of the January 2, 2014 correcting document (79 FR 61), 
we inadvertently omitted some CFR part numbers from the heading, and 
inadvertently omitted the applicability date from the DATES section.

III. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking and Delay of 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 rule take effect in accordance with section 553(b) of 
the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553(b)). However, we 
can waive this notice and comment procedure if the Secretary finds, for 
good cause, that the 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.
    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.
    In our view, this correcting document does not constitute a 
rulemaking that would be subject to the APA notice and comment or 
delayed effective date requirements. This correcting document simply 
adds the CFR part numbers and the applicability date that were 
inadvertently omitted and does not make substantive changes to the 
policies or payment methodologies that were adopted in the final rule.
    In addition, even if this were a rulemaking to which the notice and 
comment procedures and delayed effective date requirements applied, we 
find that there is good cause to waive such requirements. Undertaking 
further notice and comment procedures to incorporate the corrections in 
this document into the January 2, 2014 correcting document (which 
corrected the FY 2014 IPPS/LTCH final rule) or delaying the effective 
date would be contrary to the public interest, because it is in the 
public's interest for providers to receive appropriate payments in as 
timely a manner as possible. Furthermore, such procedures would be 
unnecessary, as we are not altering the policies that were already 
subject to comment and finalized in our final rule, but rather, we are 
simply adding the CFR part numbers and applicability date that were 
inadvertently omitted. Therefore, we find good cause to waive the 
notice and comment and effective date requirements.

IV. Correction of Errors

    In FR Doc. 2013-31432 of January 2, 2014 (79 FR 61), make the 
following corrections:
    1. On page 61, in the heading, the CFR citation ``42 CFR Parts 412, 
482, 485, and 489'' is corrected to read ``42 CFR Parts 412, 413, 414, 
419, 424, 482, 485, and 489''.
    2. On page 61, in the DATES section, the caption and sentence, 
``DATES: Effective Date: This correcting document is effective on 
January 2, 2014.'' are corrected to read as follows:

``DATES: Effective Date: This correcting document is effective January 
2, 2014.
    Applicability Date: This correcting document is applicable on 
January 1, 2014.''

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 93.773, 
Medicare--Hospital Insurance; and Program No. 93.774, Medicare--
Supplementary Medical Insurance Program)

    Dated: January 7, 2014.
Jennifer Cannistra,
Executive Secretary to the Department, Department of Health and Human 
Services.
[FR Doc. 2014-00273 Filed 1-8-14; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P