[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 59 (Friday, March 26, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15819-15820]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6761]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary


TRICARE; Implementation of the TRICARE Home Health Agency 
Prospective Payment System

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Defense

ACTION: Notice of implementation of Home Health Agency Prospective 
Payment System.

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SUMMARY: This notice is to advise interested parties of the phased-in 
implementation of the Home Health Agency Prospective Payment System 
(HHA PPS). Public notification of HHA PPS implementation was required 
under a previous interim final rule (67 FR 40597) published in the 
Federal Register on June 13, 2002, if TRICARE was unable to effectively 
and efficiently implement the HHA PPS within the specified statutory 
effective date of August 12, 2002.
    The HHA PPS will be implemented with the start health care delivery 
date of the following regional groupings of states under each of the 
TRICARE Next Generation of Contracts (T-Nex); e.g., as of June 1, 2004, 
home health agency services in the state of Washington will be 
processed and paid under the HHA PPS as part of the West T-Nex regional 
contract.

[[Page 15820]]



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                                                        Start healthcare
    T-Nex region/contractor              States              delivery
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North (Health Net Federal        Illinois, Indiana,     1 July 2004.
 Services, Inc.).                 Kentucky, Michigan,
                                  Ohio, Wisconsin,
                                  West Virginia,
                                  Virginia (except the
                                  Northern Virginia/
                                  National Capital
                                  Area), North
                                  Carolina, Eastern
                                  Iowa, Rock Island,
                                  IL, Fort Campbell
                                  catchment area of
                                  Tennessee.
                                 Connecticut,           1 September
                                  Delaware, District     2004.
                                  of Columbia, Maine,
                                  Maryland,
                                  Massachusetts, New
                                  Hampshire, New
                                  Jersey, New York,
                                  Pennsylvania, Rhode
                                  Island, Vermont,
                                  Northern Virginia,
                                  West Virginia
                                  (portion).
South (Humana Military           Oklahoma, Arkansas     1 November 2004.
 Healthcare Services).            and major portions
                                  of Texas and
                                  Louisiana.
                                 Alabama, Florida,      1 August 2004.
                                  Georgia,
                                  Mississippi, Eastern
                                  Louisiana, South
                                  Carolina, Tennessee,
                                  small area of
                                  Arkansas, New
                                  Orleans area.
West (TriWest Healthcare         Washington, Oregon,    1 June 2004.
 Alliance Corp.).                 Northern Idaho.
                                 California, Hawaii,    1 July 2004.
                                  Alaska.
                                 Arizona, Colorado,     1 October 2004.
                                  Idaho, Iowa, Kansas,
                                  Minnesota, Missouri,
                                  Montana, Nebraska,
                                  Nevada, New Mexico,
                                  North Dakota, South
                                  Dakota, western
                                  portion of Texas,
                                  Wyoming.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Bennett, Medical Benefits and 
Reimbursement Systems, TRICARE Management Activity, telephone (303) 
676-3494.

    Dated: March 22, 2004.
L.M. Bynum,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 04-6761 Filed 3-25-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-06-M