[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 180 (Wednesday, September 16, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57868-57869]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-20380]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Extension of Comment Period for Proposed Updates to the Bright 
Futures Periodicity Schedule as Part of the HRSA-Supported Preventive 
Services Guidelines for Infants, Children, and Adolescents

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department 
of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: HRSA is providing notice of a technical issue in the 
collection of public comments responding to a previous Federal Register 
notice, dated August 20, 2020, submitted to the American Academy of 
Pediatrics through its publicly available web-based portal during the 
period from August 20-27, 2020. After receiving no comments during this 
timeframe, a routine test found that the database that records public 
comments was not connected to the comment form on the web page. This 
technical issue has been resolved and the system is functional and 
collecting comments. HRSA encourages members of the public who may have 
previous submitted comments to resubmit and is extending the time 
period for public comments in response to proposed updates to the 
Periodicity Schedule of the Bright Futures Recommendations for 
Pediatric Preventive Health Care (``Bright Futures Periodicity 
Schedule''). The Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule is part of the 
HRSA-supported preventive service guidelines for infants, children, and 
adolescents under, and is maintained, in part, through a national 
cooperative agreement, the Bright Futures Pediatric Implementation 
Program.

DATES: The comment period published in the Federal Register on August 
20, 2020, at 85 FR 51454-01 is extended. Members of the public are 
invited to provide written comments no later than October 16, 2020. All 
comments received on or before this date will be reviewed and 
considered by the Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule Workgroup and 
provided for further consideration by HRSA in determining the 
recommended updates that it will support.

ADDRESSES: Members of the public interested in providing comments can 
do so by accessing the public comment web page at: https://mchb.hrsa.gov/maternal-child-health-topics/child-health/bright-futures.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bethany Miller, HRSA, Maternal and 
Child Health Bureau, email: [email protected], telephone: (301) 945-
5156.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  On August 20, 2020, HRSA published a notice 
soliciting public comments regarding proposed updates to the Bright 
Futures Periodicity Schedule (85 FR 51454-01). Due to technical issues, 
comments that may have been submitted between August 20, 2020, and 
August 27, 2020, were not captured. To ensure that all comments are 
received and considered, the public is encouraged to resubmit any 
comments that were provided in response to the notice published on 
August 20, 2020 (85 FR 51454-01) and also is extending the time period 
for public comments.
    HRSA has funded the Bright Futures Program as a cooperative 
agreement since 1990. A primary focus of this program is for the 
funding recipient to maintain and update the Bright Futures Guidelines 
for Health Supervision of Infants, Children and Adolescents, a set of 
materials and tools for providing quality preventive care screenings 
and well-child visits. One component of these tools is the Bright 
Futures Periodicity Schedule, a chart that identifies the recommended 
screenings, assessments, physical examinations, and procedures to be 
delivered within preventive checkups at each age milestone. Over the 
program's existence, the Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule has become 
the accepted schedule within the United States for preventive health 
services through the course of a child's development.
    Under section 2713 of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 
300gg-13, non-grandfathered group health plans and health insurance 
issuers must include coverage, without cost sharing, for certain 
preventive services, for plan years (in the individual market, policy 
years) that begin on or after the date that is one year after the date 
the recommendation or guideline is issued. These include preventive 
health services provided for in the Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule 
as part of the HRSA-supported Preventive Services Guidelines for 
Infants, Children, and Adolescents. A panel of pediatric primary care 
experts convened to review the latest evidence and recommends updating 
the Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule to include screening all 
individuals ages 18 and older at least once for hepatitis C virus 
infection. This proposed update aligns with the United States 
Preventive Services Task Force's recommendation that all adults ages 18 
to 79 be screened

[[Page 57869]]

at least once for hepatitis C virus infection.
    The American Academy of Pediatrics, which has been the HRSA 
cooperative agreement recipient for this program since 2007, maintains 
the Periodicity Schedule. Under HRSA's cooperative agreement with the 
American Academy of Pediatrics, the Bright Futures Program is required 
to administer a process for developing and regularly recommending, as 
needed, updates to the Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule. As 
described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Bright Futures 
Program (HRSA-18-078), the consideration of potential updates is 
expected to be ``a comprehensive, objective, and transparent review of 
available evidence that incorporates opportunity for public comment.''

Thomas J. Engels,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-20380 Filed 9-15-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P