[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 13, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15882-15883]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05724]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

42 CFR Parts 412, 413, 424, and 476

[CMS-1588-CN4]
RIN 0938-AR12


Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems 
for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long Term Care Hospital Prospective 
Payment System and Fiscal Year 2013 Rates; Hospitals' Resident Caps for 
Graduate Medical Education Payment Purposes; Quality Reporting 
Requirements for Specific Providers and for Ambulatory Surgical 
Centers; Corrections

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

ACTION: Final rule; correction.

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SUMMARY: This document corrects technical errors in the correcting 
document that appeared in the October 3, 2012 Federal Register entitled 
``Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for 
Acute Care Hospitals and the Long Term Care Hospital Prospective 
Payment System and Fiscal Year 2013 Rates; Hospitals' Resident Caps for 
Graduate Medical Education Payment Purposes; Quality Reporting 
Requirements for Specific Providers and for Ambulatory Surgical 
Centers; Correction.''

DATES: Effective date: This correcting document is effective March 12, 
2013.
    Applicability Date: This correcting document is applicable to 
discharges on or after October 1, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tzvi Hefter, (410) 786-4487.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    In the August 31, 2012 Federal Register (77 FR 53258), we published 
a final rule entitled ``Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient 
Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long Term 
Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Fiscal Year 2013 Rates; 
Hospitals' Resident Caps for Graduate Medical Education Payment 
Purposes; Quality Reporting Requirements for Specific Providers and for 
Ambulatory Surgical Centers'' (hereinafter referred to as the FY 2013 
IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule). To correct typographical and technical 
errors in the FY 2013 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule, we published correcting 
documents that appeared in the October 3, 2012 Federal Register (77 FR 
60315); October 17, 2012 Federal Register (77 FR 63751); and the 
October 29, 2012 Federal Register (77 FR 65495).
    The October 3, 2012 correcting document (77 FR 60315) included 
several corrections to figures and data for the Hospital Readmissions 
Reduction program. Since that time, we have determined that these 
corrections still contained errors. Therefore, in this correcting 
document, we will identify and correct the errors related to the 
Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program included in October 3, 2012 
correcting document (FR Doc. 2012-24307).

II. Summary of Errors and Corrections to Tables Posted on the CMS Web 
Site

A. Errors in the October 3, 2012 Correcting Document

    On page 60317, in corrections to figures regarding the Hospital 
Readmissions Reduction Program, we made an error in the: (1) Amount by 
which payments to hospitals would be reduced; and (2) number of 
hospitals that will have their base operating DRG payments reduced by 
the readmissions adjustment.

[[Page 15883]]

B. Errors in and Corrections to Tables Posted on the CMS Web Site

    In the August 31, 2012 FY 2013 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule Federal 
Register (77 FR 53717), we list Table 15 as table that is available 
only through the Internet.
    In Table 15.--FY 2013 Final Readmissions Adjustment Factors, we are 
correcting technical errors in the calculation of the readmissions 
adjustment factors published for the FY 2013 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule. 
For the FY 2013 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule and for the subsequent October 
3, 2012 correcting document, we inadvertently failed to properly 
include all of Medicare inpatient claims from the FY 2008 MedPAR file 
and the FY 2009 MedPAR file in determining the base operating DRG 
payment amounts in the calculation of aggregate payments for excess 
readmissions and aggregate payments for all discharges that were used 
to calculate the readmissions adjustment factors. Under the policy we 
adopted in that final rule, for FY 2013, aggregate payments for excess 
readmissions and aggregate payments for all discharges are calculated 
using data from MedPAR claims with discharge dates that are on or after 
July 1, 2008, and no later than June 30, 2011.
    The corrections to Tables 15 discussed in this section of the 
correction document will be posted on the CMS Web site at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/AcuteInpatientPPS/01_overview.asp. Click on the link 
on the left side of the screen titled, ``FY 2013 IPPS Final Rule Home 
Page'' or ``Acute Inpatient--Files for Download.''

III. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking and Delay of 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 this notice and comment procedure 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 notice.
    Section 553(b) of the APA ordinarily requires a 30-day delay in 
effective date of final rules after the date of their publication in 
the Federal Register. This 30-day delay in effective date can be 
waived, however, if an agency finds for good cause that the delay is 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and the 
agency incorporates a statement of the findings and its reasons in the 
rule issued.
    In our view, this correcting document does not constitute a 
rulemaking that would be subject to the APA notice and comment or 
delayed effective date requirements. This correcting document corrects 
technical errors regarding the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program 
in the October 3, 2012 correcting document and Table 15 of the Addendum 
of the FY 2013 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule and does not make substantive 
changes to the policies or payment methodologies that were adopted in 
the final rule. As a result, this correcting document is intended to 
ensure that the preamble and the Addendum of the FY 2013 IPPS/LTCH PPS 
final rule accurately reflect the policies adopted in that rule.
    In addition, even if this were a rulemaking to which the notice and 
comment and delayed effective date requirements applied, we find that 
there is good cause to waive such requirements. Undertaking further 
notice and comment procedures to incorporate the corrections in this 
document into the final rule or delaying the effective date would be 
contrary to the public interest. Furthermore, such procedures would be 
unnecessary, as we are not altering the policies that were already 
subject to comment and finalized in our final rule. Therefore, we 
believe we have good cause to waive the notice and comment and 
effective date requirements.

IV. Correction of Errors

    In FR Doc. 2012-24307 of October 3, 2012 (77 FR 60315), make the 
following corrections:
    1. On page 60317,
    a. Top half of the page, first column, third full paragraph 
(section IV.A.1.b. of the correcting document), last line 3, the figure 
``$290'' is corrected to read ``$280''.
    b. Bottom half of the page following the table, first column, last 
paragraph (section IV.B.2. of the correcting document), line 29, the 
figure ``2,217'' is corrected to read ``2,214''.

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

    Dated: March 7, 2013.
Jennifer M. Cannistra,
Executive Secretary to the Department, Department of Health and Human 
Services.
[FR Doc. 2013-05724 Filed 3-12-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P