Department of Health and Human Services November 4, 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule sets forth routine updates to the Medicare home health payment rates for calendar year (CY) 2023 in accordance with existing statutory and regulatory requirements. This final rule also finalizes a methodology for determining the impact of the difference between assumed versus actual behavior change on estimated aggregate expenditures for home health payments as result of the change in the unit of payment to 30 days and the implementation of the Patient Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) case-mix adjustment methodology and finalizes a corresponding permanent prospective adjustment to the CY 2023 home health payment rate. This rule finalizes the reassignment of certain diagnosis codes under the PDGM case-mix groups, and establishes a permanent mitigation policy to smooth the impact of year-to-year changes in home health payments related to changes in the home health wage index. This rule also finalizes recalibration of the PDGM case-mix weights and updates the low utilization payment adjustment (LUPA) thresholds, functional impairment levels, comorbidity adjustment subgroups for CY 2023, and the fixed-dollar loss ratio (FDL) used for outlier payments. Additionally, this rule discusses comments received on the future collection of data regarding the use of telecommunications technology during a 30-day home health period of care on home health claims. This rule also finalizes changes to the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP) requirements; changes to the expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model; and updates to the home infusion therapy services payment rates for CY 2023.

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 proposed information collection project titled Templates for Extramural Data Management Plans. The aim of this collection is to provide contract and cooperative agreement applicants and awardees with templates for the creation of data management plans (DMPs).

CDC has redelegated the authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act to create and issue amended emergency use instructions (EUI) to inform healthcare providers or individuals to whom an eligible product, as defined under the FD&C Act, is to be administered, concerning the product's approved, licensed, or cleared conditions of use that deviate from approved labeling, standard clinical practice, and/or standard medical modality (e.g., individual prescription within the patient-clinician relationship). This notice announces the redelegation of the above-mentioned authority, without the authority to redelegate, from the Director, CDC, to the Director, National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD).

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health published a notice in the Federal Register on September 16, 2022, concerning a meeting of the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (TBDWG) that was scheduled to occur on December 7, 2022. This notice is being amended to announce that the meeting has been rescheduled to November 21, 2022. This will be the final TBDWG meeting.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the revocation of the Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) (the Authorizations) issued to Cleveland Clinic Robert J. Tomsich Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Institute (Cleveland Clinic) for the Cleveland Clinic SARS-CoV-2 Assay and SelfCheck COVID-19 TaqPath Multiplex PCR. FDA revoked these Authorizations under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). The revocations, which include an explanation of the reasons for each revocation, are reprinted in this document.

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 (the 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 60 days for public comment on the proposed action. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding our burden estimates 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 Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a revision of the approved ACF Uniform Project Description (UPD) (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) # 0970-0139, expiration March 31, 2025).