Maximum Per Diem Reimbursement Rates for the Continental United States (CONUS), 40413-40414 [2019-17416]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 14, 2019 / Notices BTG and BSC are the two leading suppliers of DEBs in the United States and are each other’s closest competitors. The only other participant in the U.S. DEB market is Merit Medical (‘‘Merit’’), which is substantially smaller than either BSC or BTG. IV. The Relevant Geographic Market The United States is the relevant geographic market in which to assess the competitive effects of the proposed Acquisition. DEBs are medical devices that are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (‘‘FDA’’). As such, DEBs sold outside the United States, but not approved for sale in the United States, do not provide viable competitive alternatives for U.S. consumers. V. Competitive Effects of the Acquisition The proposed Acquisition would likely result in substantial competitive harm to consumers in the market for DEBs. The parties are two of only three significant suppliers of DEBs in the United States. Eliminating the head-tohead competition between BSC and BTG in this highly concentrated market would allow the combined firm to exercise market power unilaterally, resulting in higher prices, reduced innovation, and less choice for consumers. jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES VI. Entry Conditions Entry in the relevant market would not be timely, likely, or sufficient in magnitude, character, and scope to deter or counteract the anticompetitive effects of the proposed Acquisition. New entry would require significant investment of time and money for product research and development, regulatory approval by the FDA, developing clinical history supporting the long-term efficacy of the product, and establishing a U.S. sales and service infrastructure. Such development efforts are difficult, timeconsuming, and expensive, and often fail to result in a competitive product reaching the market. VII. The Consent Agreement The Consent Agreement eliminates the competitive concerns raised by the proposed Acquisition by requiring BSC to divest its DEB business and closely related bland bead business to Varian. A sale of BSC’s DEB business without its bland business could undermine the divestiture’s effectiveness. The two products share key intellectual property, and BSC manufactures bland beads on the same production line as DEBs. Thus, including the bland bead business in the divestiture package will ensure that VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:56 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 247001 Varian has outright ownership of all necessary intellectual property and allow it to manufacture DEBs at a cost and output level comparable to that of BSC. BSC must divest all assets and rights to research, develop, manufacture, market, and sell the BSC DEB and bland bead products, including all related intellectual property and other confidential business information, manufacturing technology, existing inventory, and all related agreements to manufacture and distribute the products. Additionally, to ensure that the divestiture is successful and maintain continuity of supply, the proposed Order requires BSC to supply Varian with DEBs and bland beads for a limited time while Varian establishes its own manufacturing capability. The provisions of the Consent Agreement ensure that Varian becomes an independent, viable, and effective competitor in the U.S. market in order to maintain the competition that currently exists. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Varian operates globally and develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions. Varian’s existing interventional oncology business includes products that are highly complementary to the divestiture assets. Varian has the expertise, U.S. sales infrastructure, and resources to restore the competition that otherwise would have been lost due to the proposed Acquisition. BSC must accomplish the divestitures no later than ten days after consummating the proposed Acquisition. If the Commission determines that Varian is not an acceptable acquirer, or that the manner of the divestitures is not acceptable, the proposed Order requires BSC to unwind the sale of rights and assets to Varian and then divest the affected products to a Commission-approved acquirer within six months of the date the Order becomes final. To ensure compliance with the Order, the Commission has agreed to appoint a Monitor to ensure that BSC complies with all of its obligations pursuant to the Consent Agreement and to keep the Commission informed about the status of the transfer of the DEB and bland bead rights and assets to Varian. The proposed Order further allows the Commission to appoint a trustee in the event that BSC fails to divest the products as required. The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the Consent Agreement, and it is not intended to constitute an official PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 40413 interpretation of the proposed Order or to modify its terms in any way. By direction of the Commission. April J. Tabor, Acting Secretary. [FR Doc. 2019–17460 Filed 8–13–19; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6750–01–P GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION [Notice-MA–2019–07; Docket No. 2019– 0002; Sequence No. 19] Maximum Per Diem Reimbursement Rates for the Continental United States (CONUS) Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP), General Services Administration (GSA). ACTION: Notice of GSA Per Diem Bulletin FTR 20–01, Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 CONUS per diem reimbursement rates. AGENCY: The GSA Fiscal Year FY 2020 per diem reimbursement rates review has resulted in lodging and meal allowance changes for certain locations within CONUS to provide for reimbursement of Federal employees’ subsistence expenses while on official travel. SUMMARY: Applicability Date: This notice applies to travel performed on or after October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact Ms. Jill Denning, Program Analyst, Office of Government-wide Policy, Office of Asset and Transportation Management, at 202–208–7642, or by email at travelpolicy@gsa.gov. Please cite Notice of GSA Per Diem Bulletin FTR 20–01. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DATES: Background The CONUS per diem reimbursement rates prescribed in Bulletin 20–01 may be found at www.gsa.gov/perdiem. GSA bases the maximum lodging allowance rates on the average daily rate that the lodging industry reports to an independent organization. If a maximum lodging allowance rate and/or a meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) per diem reimbursement rate is insufficient to meet necessary expenses in any given location, Federal executive agencies can request that GSA review that location. Please review questions six and seven of GSA’s per diem Frequently Asked Questions page at www.gsa.gov/perdiem for more information on the special review E:\FR\FM\14AUN1.SGM 14AUN1 40414 Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 14, 2019 / Notices process. In addition, the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) allows for actual expense reimbursement as provided in §§ 301–11.300 through 301–11.306. For FY 2020, one new non-standard area (NSA) location was added for Boise, Idaho (Ada County). In addition, Park County, Montana was added to the Big Sky, Montana NSA area. In Montana, Missoula and Flathead Counties were separated into their own NSAs instead of a combined NSA. The standard CONUS lodging rate will increase from $94 to $96. The M&IE reimbursement rate tiers were unchanged for FY 2020. The standard CONUS M&IE rate remains at $55, and the M&IE NSA tiers remain at $56–$76. GSA issues and publishes the CONUS per diem rates, formerly published in Appendix A to 41 CFR Chapter 301, solely on the internet at www.gsa.gov/ perdiem. GSA also has removed and now solely publishes the M&IE deduction table from Appendix B to 41 CFR Chapter 301, which is used when employees are required to deduct meals from their M&IE reimbursement pursuant to FTR § 301–11.18, at www.gsa.gov/mie. This process, implemented in 2003, for per diem reimbursement rates and in 2015 (internet publication) and 2018 (removal from the FTR) for the M&IE deduction table, ensures more timely changes in per diem reimbursement rates established by GSA for Federal employees on official travel within CONUS. Notices published periodically in the Federal Register now constitute the only notification of revisions in CONUS per diem reimbursement rates to agencies other than the changes posted on the GSA website. Jessica Salmoiraghi, Associate Administrator, Office of Government-wide Policy. [FR Doc. 2019–17416 Filed 8–13–19; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6820–14–P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HHS. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:56 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 247001 that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approve the proposed information collection project: ‘‘Safety Program in Perinatal Care (SPPC)—II Demonstration Project.’’ This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2019, and allowed 60 days for public comment. AHRQ received no substantive comments. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment. DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by date 30 days after date of publication. ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: AHRQ’s OMB Desk Officer by fax at (202) 395–6974 (attention: AHRQ’s desk officer) or by email at OIRA_submission@ omb.eop.gov (attention: AHRQ’s desk officer). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports Clearance Officer, (301) 427–1477, or by email at doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Proposed Project Safety Program in Perinatal Care (SPPC)—II Demonstration Project Maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity (SMM) increased significantly and continuously in the United States (US) over the past 30 years. A considerable proportion of these adverse events are attributable to preventable harm and unintended consequences arising from clinical practice and the system of delivering perinatal care. To address these alarming trends, AHRQ has developed the Safety Program in Perinatal Care (SPPC). During its initial phase (SPPC– I), the program was comprised of three pillars: Teamwork and communication, patient safety bundles, and in situ simulations. Despite several promising results, the evaluation of SPPC–I revealed considerable hospital attrition due to heavy data burden and competing safety initiatives. Also, differences in the local adaptation of the SPPC–I patient safety bundles selected by implementation sites thwarted a meaningful cross-site comparison of programmatic impact. The current, second phase of the program (SPPC–II), focuses on integrating the teamwork and communication pillar into patient safety bundles developed by key professional organizations and implemented in 20+ US states with technical assistance by the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) program and funding from the Health Resources and Services PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Administration (HRSA). Of note, the model used by AIM to implement these bundles is through statewide perinatal quality collaboratives (PQC) aiming to enroll all birthing hospitals in the state in the PQC. During the Planning Phase of SPPC– II, the contractor, Johns Hopkins University (JHU), developed SPPC–II Training Toolkits for two AIM patient safety bundles: Obstetric hemorrhage and severe hypertension in pregnancy. The aim of the SPPC–II Demonstration Project is to implement and evaluate an integrated AIM–SPPC II program that overlays the SPPC–II Training Toolkits and the AIM patient safety bundles and program infrastructure in two states— Oklahoma (OK), currently implementing the severe hypertension bundle; and Texas (TX), currently implementing the hemorrhage bundle. Over the next five years, the AIM program is expected to cover about two thirds of US states. Therefore, there is need to determine the feasibility and impact of the proposed integrated AIM– SPPC II program, and inform future government funding decisions regarding these two programs. To this end, the SPPC–II Demonstration Project has the following goals: (1) To implement the integrated AIM– SPPC II program in birthing hospitals in OK and TX in coordination with AIM and the respective state PQC; (2) To assess the implementation of the integrated AIM–SPPC II program in these hospitals; and (3) To ascertain the short- and medium-term impact of the integrated AIM–SPPC II program on hospital (i.e., perinatal unit) teamwork and communication, patient safety, and key maternal health outcomes. This study is being conducted by AHRQ through its contractor, Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and the AIM program, JHU’s subcontractor, pursuant to AHRQ’s statutory authority to conduct and support research on healthcare and on systems for the delivery of such care, including activities with respect to the quality, effectiveness, efficiency, appropriateness and value of healthcare services and with respect to quality measurement and improvement. 42 U.S.C. 299a (a)(1) and (2). Method of Collection To achieve the goals of this project the following data collections will be implemented: (a) Training of AIM Team Leads from 48 birthing hospitals in OK and 210 birthing hospitals in TX (i.e., all birthing hospitals enrolled in the respective state E:\FR\FM\14AUN1.SGM 14AUN1

Agencies

General Services Administration

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 14, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40413-40414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-17416]


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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

[Notice-MA-2019-07; Docket No. 2019-0002; Sequence No. 19]


Maximum Per Diem Reimbursement Rates for the Continental United 
States (CONUS)

AGENCY: Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP), General Services 
Administration (GSA).

ACTION: Notice of GSA Per Diem Bulletin FTR 20-01, Fiscal Year (FY) 
2020 CONUS per diem reimbursement rates.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The GSA Fiscal Year FY 2020 per diem reimbursement rates 
review has resulted in lodging and meal allowance changes for certain 
locations within CONUS to provide for reimbursement of Federal 
employees' subsistence expenses while on official travel.

DATES: Applicability Date: This notice applies to travel performed on 
or after October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact 
Ms. Jill Denning, Program Analyst, Office of Government-wide Policy, 
Office of Asset and Transportation Management, at 202-208-7642, or by 
email at [email protected]. Please cite Notice of GSA Per Diem 
Bulletin FTR 20-01.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The CONUS per diem reimbursement rates prescribed in Bulletin 20-01 
may be found at www.gsa.gov/perdiem. GSA bases the maximum lodging 
allowance rates on the average daily rate that the lodging industry 
reports to an independent organization. If a maximum lodging allowance 
rate and/or a meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) per diem 
reimbursement rate is insufficient to meet necessary expenses in any 
given location, Federal executive agencies can request that GSA review 
that location. Please review questions six and seven of GSA's per diem 
Frequently Asked Questions page at www.gsa.gov/perdiem for more 
information on the special review

[[Page 40414]]

process. In addition, the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) allows for 
actual expense reimbursement as provided in Sec. Sec.  301-11.300 
through 301-11.306.
    For FY 2020, one new non-standard area (NSA) location was added for 
Boise, Idaho (Ada County). In addition, Park County, Montana was added 
to the Big Sky, Montana NSA area. In Montana, Missoula and Flathead 
Counties were separated into their own NSAs instead of a combined NSA. 
The standard CONUS lodging rate will increase from $94 to $96. The M&IE 
reimbursement rate tiers were unchanged for FY 2020. The standard CONUS 
M&IE rate remains at $55, and the M&IE NSA tiers remain at $56-$76.
    GSA issues and publishes the CONUS per diem rates, formerly 
published in Appendix A to 41 CFR Chapter 301, solely on the internet 
at www.gsa.gov/perdiem. GSA also has removed and now solely publishes 
the M&IE deduction table from Appendix B to 41 CFR Chapter 301, which 
is used when employees are required to deduct meals from their M&IE 
reimbursement pursuant to FTR Sec.  301-11.18, at www.gsa.gov/mie. This 
process, implemented in 2003, for per diem reimbursement rates and in 
2015 (internet publication) and 2018 (removal from the FTR) for the 
M&IE deduction table, ensures more timely changes in per diem 
reimbursement rates established by GSA for Federal employees on 
official travel within CONUS.
    Notices published periodically in the Federal Register now 
constitute the only notification of revisions in CONUS per diem 
reimbursement rates to agencies other than the changes posted on the 
GSA website.

Jessica Salmoiraghi,
Associate Administrator, Office of Government-wide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2019-17416 Filed 8-13-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6820-14-P

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