Department of Health and Human Services July 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of the draft guidance entitled ``Enforcement Policy for Premarket Notification Requirements for Certain In Vitro Diagnostic and Radiology Devices.'' This document describes FDA's intent with regard to enforcement of premarket notification (510(k)) requirements for certain in vitro diagnostic and radiology devices under the regulations. This draft guidance is not final nor is it in effect at this time.

This proposed rule would revise the Medicaid home health service definition as required by section 6407 of the Affordable Care Act to add a requirement that physicians document the existence of a face-to-face encounter (including through the use of telehealth) with the Medicaid eligible individual within reasonable timeframes. This proposal would align the timeframes with similar regulatory requirements for Medicare home health services in accordance with section 6407 of the Affordable Care Act and reflects CMS' commitment to the general principles of the President's Executive Order 13563 released January 18, 2011, entitled ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.'' In addition, this rule proposes to amend home health services regulations to clarify the definitions of included medical supplies, equipment and appliances, and clarify that States may not limit home health services to services delivered in the home, or to services furnished to individuals who are homebound.

In accordance with section 10(a) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 2, this notice announces a meeting of the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a collection of information entitled ``Additional Criteria and Procedures for Classifying Over-the-Counter Drugs as Generally Recognized as Safe and Effective and Not Misbranded'' has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of Federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA), Federal Agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on information collection requirements for the labeling of natural rubber latex condoms.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect a change of sponsor for a new animal drug application (NADA) from Virbac AH, Inc., to Cross Vetpharm Group Ltd.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

Section 1104 of the Administrative Simplification provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (hereafter referred to as the Affordable Care Act) establishes new requirements for administrative transactions that will improve the utility of the existing HIPAA transactions and reduce administrative costs. Specifically, in section 1104(b)(2) of the Affordable Care Act, Congress required the adoption of operating rules for the health care industry and directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ``adopt a single set of operating rules for each transaction * * * with the goal of creating as much uniformity in the implementation of the electronic standards as possible.'' This interim final rule with comment period adopts operating rules for two Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) transactions: eligibility for a health plan and health care claim status. This rule also defines the term ``operating rules'' and explains the role of operating rules in relation to the adopted transaction standards. In general, transaction standards adopted under HIPAA enable electronic data interchange through a common interchange structure, thus minimizing the industry's reliance on multiple formats. Operating rules, in turn, attempt to define the rights and responsibilities of all parties, security requirements, transmission formats, response times, liabilities, exception processing, error resolution and more, in order to facilitate successful interoperability between data systems of different entities.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of