Department of Health and Human Services November 8, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 a second opportunity for public comment on the notice. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding the burden estimate 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 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks public input in two forms: (1) Written comments to help inform the scope and development of the Physical Activity Guidelines (PAG) Midcourse Report on older adults and (2) nominations of qualified candidates to support the development of the report through systematic review of the scientific literature related to physical activity and older adults.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services announces a meeting of the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC). The ISMICC is open to the public and can be accessed via telephone or webcast only, and not in person. Agenda with call-in information will be posted on SAMHSA's website prior to the meeting at: https://www.samhsa.gov/about-us/advisory-councils/meetings. The meeting will provide information on federal efforts related to serious mental illness (SMI) and serious emotional disturbance (SED).

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the CDC announces the following meeting of the Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis Meeting (ACET). This meeting is open to the public and limited to 1,000 audio and web conference lines. Time will be available for public comment.

This notice announces a meeting of the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality.

This final rule updates the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) for calendar year (CY) 2022. This rule also updates the payment rate for renal dialysis services furnished by an ESRD facility to individuals with acute kidney injury (AKI). In addition, this rule updates requirements for the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP), including a measure suppression policy for the duration of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency (PHE) as well as suppression of individual ESRD QIP measures for Payment Year (PY) 2022 under the measure suppression policy. This rule also finalizes that CMS will not score facilities or reduce payment to any facility under the ESRD QIP in PY 2022. Further, this rule finalizes changes to the ESRD Treatment Choices (ETC) Model, which is a mandatory payment model that is focused on encouraging greater use of home dialysis and kidney transplants, to reduce Medicare expenditures while preserving or enhancing the quality of care furnished to Medicare beneficiaries.