Department of Health and Human Services August 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, the Agency, or we) 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.

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.

This final rule updates the hospice wage index, payment rates, and aggregate cap amount for Fiscal Year 2022. This rule makes changes to the labor shares of the hospice payment rates and finalizes clarifying regulations text changes to the election statement addendum that was implemented on October 1, 2020. In addition, this rule makes permanent selected regulatory blanket waivers that were issued to Medicare-participating hospice agencies during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) and updates the hospice conditions of participation. This rule updates the Hospice Quality Reporting Program and finalizes changes beginning with the January 2022 public reporting for the Home Health Quality Reporting Program to address exceptions related to the COVID-19 PHE.

This final rule updates the payment rates used under the prospective payment system (PPS) for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) for fiscal year (FY) 2022. In addition, the final rule includes a forecast error adjustment for FY 2022, updates the diagnosis code mappings used under the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM), rebases and revises the SNF market basket, implements a recently-enacted SNF consolidated billing exclusion along with the required proportional reduction in the SNF PPS base rates, and includes a discussion of a PDPM parity adjustment. In addition, the final rule includes updates for the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) and the SNF Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program, including a policy to suppress the use of the SNF readmission measure for scoring and payment adjustment purposes in the FY 2022 SNF VBP Program because we have determined that circumstances caused by the public health emergency for COVID-19 have significantly affected the validity and reliability of the measure and resulting performance scores. We are also finalizing a technical correction to the physical environment requirements that Long-Term Care facilities must meet in order to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) is extending the comment period for the notice of availability entitled ``Enhanced Drug Distribution Security at the Package Level Under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act; Draft Guidance for Industry; Availability'' that appeared in the Federal Register of June 4, 2021. The Agency is taking this action to allow interested persons additional time to submit comments.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, an institute of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, is contemplating the grant of an Exclusive Commercialization Patent License to practice the inventions embodied in the Patents and Patent Applications listed in the Summary Information section of this notice to Codagenix, Inc. (Codagenix), having a place of business in Farmingdale, New York, U.S.A.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the fee rates and payment procedures for medical device user fees for fiscal year (FY) 2022. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), as amended by the Medical Device User Fee Amendments of 2017 (MDUFA IV), authorizes FDA to collect user fees for certain medical device submissions and annual fees both for certain periodic reports and for establishments subject to registration. This notice establishes the fee rates for FY 2022, which apply from October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022, and provides information on how the fees for FY 2022 were determined, the payment procedures you should follow, and how you may qualify for reduced small business fees.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) 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.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of its continuing effort to reduce public burden and maximize the utility of government information, invites the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a continued information collection project titled ``Assessments to Inform Program Refinement for HIV, other STD, and Pregnancy Prevention among Middle and High-School Aged Youth.'' This is a generic information collection package that supports qualitative and quantitative data collection from adolescents (ages 11- 19) and their parents/caregivers for the purpose of needs assessment and program refinement for programs and services designed to prevent HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and pregnancy among middle and high school aged adolescents.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is denying Belen G. Ngo's (Ms. Ngo's) request for a hearing and is issuing an order under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) debarring Ms. Ngo for 5 years from providing services in any capacity to a person that has an approved or pending drug product application. FDA bases this order on a finding that Ms. Ngo was convicted of a misdemeanor under Federal law for conduct relating to the development or approval of a drug product or otherwise relating to the regulation of a drug product under the FD&C Act and that the type of conduct underlying the conviction undermines the process for the regulation of drugs. In determining the appropriateness and period of Ms. Ngo's debarment, FDA considered the relevant factors listed in the FD&C Act. Ms. Ngo failed to file with the Agency information and analyses sufficient to create a basis for a hearing concerning this action.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, the Agency, or we) is issuing a final rule to amend its medical product ``intended use'' regulations. This final rule amends FDA's regulations describing the types of evidence relevant to determining whether a product is intended for use as a drug or device under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), and FDA's implementing regulations, including whether a medical product that is approved, cleared, granted marketing authorization, or exempted from premarket notification is intended for a new use. This action also withdraws and replaces the portions of a final rule issued on January 9, 2017, that never became effective.