[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 86 (Friday, May 3, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26038-26051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10106]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

[CMS-9079-N]


Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Quarterly Listing of Program 
Issuances--January Through March 2013

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This quarterly notice lists CMS manual instructions, 
substantive and interpretive regulations, and other Federal Register 
notices that were published from January through March 2013, relating 
to the Medicare and Medicaid programs and other programs administered 
by CMS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: It is possible that an interested 
party may need specific information and not be able to determine from 
the listed information whether the issuance or regulation would fulfill 
that need. Consequently, we are providing contact persons to answer 
general questions concerning each of the addenda published in this 
notice.
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I. Background

    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is responsible 
for administering the Medicare and Medicaid programs and coordination 
and oversight of private health insurance. Administration and oversight 
of these programs involves the following: (1) Furnishing information to 
Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, health care providers, and the 
public; and (2) maintaining effective communications with CMS regional 
offices, state governments, state Medicaid agencies, state survey 
agencies, various providers of health care, all Medicare contractors 
that process claims and pay bills, National Association of Insurance 
Commissioners (NAIC), health insurers, and other stakeholders. To 
implement the various statutes on which the programs are based, we 
issue regulations under the authority granted to the Secretary of the 
Department of Health and Human Services under sections 1102, 1871, 
1902, and related provisions of the Social Security Act (the Act) and 
Public Health Service Act. We also issue various manuals, memoranda, 
and statements necessary to administer and oversee the programs 
efficiently.

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    Section 1871(c) of the Act requires that we publish a list of all 
Medicare manual instructions, interpretive rules, statements of policy, 
and guidelines of general applicability not issued as regulations at 
least every 3 months in the Federal Register.

II. Revised Format for the Quarterly Issuance Notices

    While we are publishing the quarterly notice required by section 
1871(c) of the Act, we will no longer republish duplicative information 
that is available to the public elsewhere. We believe this approach is 
in alignment with CMS' commitment to the general principles of the 
President's Executive Order 13563 released January 2011 entitled 
``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' which promotes 
modifying and streamlining an agency's regulatory program to be more 
effective in achieving regulatory objectives. Section 6 of Executive 
Order 13563 requires agencies to identify regulations that may be 
``outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and 
to modify, streamline, expand or repeal them in accordance with what 
has been learned.'' This approach is also in alignment with the 
President's Open Government and Transparency Initiative that 
establishes a system of transparency, public participation, and 
collaboration.
    Therefore, this quarterly notice provides only the specific updates 
that have occurred in the 3-month period along with a hyperlink to the 
full listing that is available on the CMS Web site or the appropriate 
data registries that are used as our resources. This information is the 
most current up-to-date information and will be available earlier than 
we publish our quarterly notice. We believe the Web site list provides 
more timely access for beneficiaries, providers, and suppliers. We also 
believe the Web site offers a more convenient tool for the public to 
find the full list of qualified providers for these specific services 
and offers more flexibility and ``real time'' accessibility. In 
addition, many of the Web sites have listservs; that is, the public can 
subscribe and receive immediate notification of any updates to the Web 
site. These listservs avoid the need to check the Web site, as 
notification of updates is automatic and sent to the subscriber as they 
occur. If assessing a Web site proves to be difficult, the contact 
person listed can provide information.

III. How To Use the Notice

    This notice is organized into 15 addenda so that a reader may 
access the subjects published during the quarter covered by the notice 
to determine whether any are of particular interest. We expect this 
notice to be used in concert with previously published notices. Those 
unfamiliar with a description of our Medicare manuals should view the 
manuals at http://www.cms.gov/manuals.

    Authority:  (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 
93.773, Medicare--Hospital Insurance, Program No. 93.774, Medicare--
Supplementary Medical Insurance Program, and Program No. 93.714, 
Medical Assistance Program).

    Dated: April 24, 2013.
Kathleen Cantwell,
Director, Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs.
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[FR Doc. 2013-10106 Filed 5-2-13; 8:45 am]
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