[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 4, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57785-57786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-19924]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

42 CFR Parts 405, 412, 413, 415, 419, 422, and 485

[CMS-1500-F2]
RIN-0938-AN57


Medicare Program; Changes to the Hospital Inpatient Prospective 
Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2006 Rates; Correcting Amendment

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.

ACTION: Final rule; correcting amendment.

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SUMMARY: This document corrects technical errors in the final rule that 
appeared in the August 12, 2005 Federal Register entitled ``Changes to 
the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2006 
Rates.''

EFFECTIVE DATE: This correcting amendment is effective August 12, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marc Hartstein, (410) 786-4548.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background and Summary of Errors

    In FR Doc. 05-15406 (70 FR 47278), the final rule entitled 
``Changes to the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems and 
Fiscal Year 2006 Rates'' (hereinafter referred to as the FY 2006 final 
rule), there were technical errors that are identified and corrected in 
the regulations text of this correcting amendment. The provisions of 
this correcting amendment are effective August 12, 2005.
    On page 47487 of the FY 2006 final rule, we made technical errors 
in the regulation text of Sec.  412.230(d)(2)(iii). In this paragraph, 
we inadvertently omitted qualifying language related to our 
reclassification policy. Accordingly, we are revising Sec.  
412.230(d)(2)(iii) to accurately reflect our policy on reclassification 
of a campus of a multicampus hospital. Therefore, on page 47487 first 
column, lines 23 through 25, the phrase ``may seek reclassification to 
a CBSA in which another campus(es) is located'' would be corrected to 
read ``may seek reclassification only to a CBSA in which another 
campus(es) is located'' and on lines 29 and 30, the phrase ``may 
submit'' would be corrected to read ``must submit.''

[[Page 57786]]

II. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking and Delay in Effective Date

    We ordinarily publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the 
Federal Register to provide a period for public comment before the 
provisions of a rule take effect in accordance with section 553(b) of 
the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553(b)). However, we 
can waive the notice and comment procedures if the Secretary finds, for 
good cause, that the notice and comment process is impracticable, 
unnecessary or contrary to the public interest, and incorporates a 
statement of the finding and the reasons therefore in the rule. We can 
also waive the 30-day delay in effective date under the APA (5 U.S.C. 
553(d)) when there is good cause to do so and we publish in the rule an 
explanation of our good cause.
    Our policy on reclassification of a campus of a multicampus 
hospital in the FY 2006 final rule has previously been subjected to 
notice and comment procedures. These corrections are consistent with 
the discussion of this policy in the FY2006 final rule and do not make 
substantive changes to this policy. This correcting amendment merely 
corrects technical errors in the regulations text of the FY 2006 final 
rule. As a result, this correcting amendment is intended to ensure that 
the FY 2006 final rule accurately reflects the policy adopted in the 
final rule. Therefore, we find that undertaking further notice and 
comment procedures to incorporate these corrections into the final rule 
is unnecessary and contrary to the public interest.
    For the same reasons, we are also waiving the 30-day delay in 
effective date for this correcting amendment. We believe that it is in 
the public interest to ensure that the FY 2006 final rule accurately 
states our policy on reclassification of a campus of a multicampus 
hospital. Thus delaying the effective date of these corrections would 
be contrary to the public interest. Therefore, we also find good cause 
to waive the 30-day delay in effective date.

III. Correction of Regulation Text Errors

    Given the errors summarized in section I of this correcting 
amendment, we are making the following correcting amendments to 42 CFR 
Part 412:

PART 412--PROSPECTIVE PAYMENT SYSTEMS FOR INPATIENT HOSPITAL 
SERVICES

0
Section 412.230 is amended by revising paragraph (d)(2)(iii) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  412.230  Criteria for an individual hospital seeking 
redesignation to another rural area or an urban area.

* * * * *
    (d)
    (2) * * *
    (iii) For applications submitted for reclassifications effective in 
FYs 2006 through 2008, a campus of a multicampus hospital may seek 
reclassification only to a CBSA in which another campus(es) is located. 
If the campus is seeking reclassification to a CBSA in which another 
campus(es) is located, as part of its reclassification request, the 
requesting entity must submit the composite wage data for the entire 
multicampus hospital as its hospital-specific data.
* * * * *

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 93.773, 
Medicare--Hospital Insurance; and Program No. 93.774, Medicare--
Supplementary Medical Insurance Program)

    Dated: September 29, 2005.
Ann C. Agnew,
Executive Secretary to the Department.
[FR Doc. 05-19924 Filed 9-30-05; 11:06 am]
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