Health Resources and Services Administration September 20, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Health Center Program Compliance Manual (Compliance Manual) has been developed as a comprehensive, significantly streamlined, and web-based guidance document to assist health centers in understanding and demonstrating compliance with Health Center Program requirements. As such, this guidance document will reduce burden for current and prospective health centers and look-alikes and further strengthen HRSA's oversight of the Health Center and Health Center Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) Programs. It also responds to recommendations contained within the Government Accountability Office report, Health Center Program: Improved Oversight Needed to Ensure Grantee Compliance with Requirements, GAO-12-546, for increased transparency, clarity, and consistency in Health Center Program oversight. The Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) released a draft Compliance Manual on August 23, 2016, for a 90-day public comment period. Individuals and groups submitted over 700 comments regarding the draft Compliance Manual. After thorough review and consideration of all comments received, HRSA made a substantial number of updates to the Compliance Manual to incorporate suggestions and requests for further clarification. HRSA has also posted a summary of comments for each corresponding section and chapter of the Compliance Manual and HRSA's responses to these comments. HRSA's ``Summary of Comments and HRSA Responses on the Draft Health Center Program Compliance Manual'' is available online at https://bphc.hrsa.gov/programrequirements/pdf/ healthcentercompliancemanual-comments.pdf. The Compliance Manual, which was effective August 28, 2017, is available online at https:// bphc.hrsa.gov/programrequirements/pdf/healthcentercompliancem anual.pdf. All Health Center Program non-regulatory policy issuances that remain in effect after release of the Compliance Manual are listed in Appendix A of the Compliance Manual. With the exception of these policies, the Compliance Manual supersedes other previous Health Center Program non- regulatory policy issuances related to Health Center Program compliance or eligibility requirements.