[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 38 (Friday, February 27, 2009)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 8867-8868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-4223]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

42 CFR Parts 401 and 405

[CMS-4064-RCN2]
RIN 0938-AM73


Medicare Program; Changes to the Medicare Claims Appeal 
Procedures; Continuation of Effectiveness and Extension of Timeline for 
Publication of Final Rule

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

ACTION: Interim final rule with comment period; continuation of 
effectiveness and extension of timeline for publication of final rule.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the continuation of effectiveness of a 
Medicare interim final rule with comment period and the extension of 
the timeline for publication of the final rule. This notice is issued 
in accordance with section 1871(a)(3)(C) of the Social Security Act 
(the Act), which allows an interim final rule to remain in effect after 
the expiration of the timeline specified in section 1871(a)(3)(B) of 
the Act (the ``regular timeline'') or, if applicable, at the end of 
each succeeding 1-year extension to the regular timeline, if prior to 
the expiration of the timeline, the Secretary publishes in the Federal 
Register a notice of continuation and explains why the regular timeline 
or any subsequent extension was not complied with.

DATES: Effective Date: February 27, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Danek, (617) 565-2682. Arrah 
Tabe-Bedward, (410) 786-7129.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 8868]]

I. Background

    Section 1871(a)(3)(A) of the Act requires the Secretary, in 
consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB), to establish and publish a regular timeline for the publication 
of a final rule based on the previous publication of a proposed rule or 
an interim final rule. In accordance with section 1871(a)(3)(B) of the 
Act, such regular timeline may vary among different regulations, based 
on the complexity of the rule, the number and scope of the comments 
received, and other relevant factors. The timeline for publishing the 
final regulation, however, cannot exceed 3 years from the date of 
publication of the proposed or interim final rule, unless there are 
exceptional circumstances. After consultation with the Director of OMB, 
we published a notice in the Federal Register on December 30, 2004 (69 
FR 78442) establishing a general 3-year timeline for finalizing a 
Medicare proposed and an interim final rule.
    Section 1871(a)(3)(C) of the Act states that a Medicare interim 
final rule shall not continue in effect if the final rule is not 
published before the expiration of the regular timeline and, if 
applicable, before the expiration of each succeeding one-year period, 
unless the Secretary publishes at the end of the regular timeline and 
any subsequent 1-year extension a notice of continuation that includes 
an explanation of why the regular or previously extended timeline was 
not met. Upon publication of such a notice, the regular timeline or 
such timeline as previously extended for publishing the final rule is 
extended for 1 year.

II. Notice of Continuation

    Section 521 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits 
Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA), amended section 1869 of 
the Act to provide for significant changes to the Medicare claims 
appeal procedures. On November 15, 2002, we published in the Federal 
Register a proposed rule (67 FR 69312) consistent with Section 521 of 
BIPA. An interim final rule with comment period implementing the BIPA 
provisions as well as further changes to the claim appeals procedures 
enacted in Title IX of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and 
Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) appeared in the Federal Register in 
March 2005 (70 FR 11420). Under the regular timeline for publication of 
a final rule, we were required to publish a final rule responding to 
public comments on the interim final rule with comment period no later 
than March 1, 2008. However, on February 29, 2008, we published in the 
Federal Register a continuation notice entitled ``Medicare Program; 
Changes to the Medicare Claims Appeal Procedures; Continuation of 
Effectiveness and Extension of Timeline for Publication of Final Rule'' 
to extend the timeline for publication of the final rule for 1 year 
until March 1, 2009 (73 FR 11043).
    This notice announces an additional extension of the timeline for 
publication of the final rule and the continuation of effectiveness of 
the March 2005 interim final rule with comment period. We are not able 
to meet the timeline for publication of the final rule due to the need 
to allow an opportunity for full consideration of issues of law and 
policy raised in the regulation. We believe it is necessary and 
appropriate to delay publication of this final rule in order to afford 
the President's appointees and designees an opportunity to further 
review and consider the laws and policies that will be set forth in the 
final rule.
    Therefore, this notice extends the timeline for publication of the 
final rule until March 1, 2010. In accordance with section 
1871(a)(3)(C) of the Act, the interim final rule with comment period 
shall remain in effect through March 1, 2010 (unless the final rule is 
published and becomes effective before March 1, 2010).

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

    Dated: February 23, 2009.
Ashley Files Flory,
Deputy Executive Secretary to the Department.
[FR Doc. E9-4223 Filed 2-26-09; 8:45 am]
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