[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 22, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 72531-72532]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27568]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

42 CFR Parts 409, 424, 483, 484, 488, 489, and 498

[CMS-1747-CN and CMS-5531-CN]
RINs 0938-AU37 and 0938-AU32


Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2022 Home Health Prospective 
Payment System Rate Update; Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model 
Requirements and Model Expansion; Home Health and Other Quality 
Reporting Program Requirements; Home Infusion Therapy Services 
Requirements; Survey and Enforcement Requirements for Hospice Programs; 
Medicare Provider Enrollment Requirements; and COVID-19 Reporting 
Requirements for Long-Term Care Facilities; Correction

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Final rule; correction.

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SUMMARY: This document corrects technical and typographical errors that 
appeared in the final rule published in the Federal Register on 
November 9, 2021 titled ``Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2022 Home 
Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update; Home Health Value-Based 
Purchasing Model Requirements and Model Expansion; Home Health and 
Other Quality Reporting Program Requirements; Home Infusion Therapy 
Services Requirements; Survey and Enforcement Requirements for Hospice 
Programs; Medicare Provider Enrollment Requirements; and COVID-19 
Reporting Requirements for Long-Term Care Facilities''.

DATES: This correcting document is effective January 1, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Slater, (410) 786-5229, for home 
health payment inquiries.
    Frank Whelan (410) 786-1302, for provider enrollment inquiries.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    In FR Doc. 2021-23993 of November 9, 2021 (86 FR 62431), there were 
a number of technical errors that are identified and corrected in this 
correcting document. The provisions in this correction document are 
effective as if they had been included in the document that appeared in 
the November 9, 2021 Federal Register.

II. Summary of Errors

A. Summary of Errors in the Preamble

    On page 62240, we inadvertently included a website address that is 
not related to Home Health Value Based Purchasing Model.
    On pages 62250 and 62251, in our discussion of the functional 
impairment levels under the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), we 
made typographical errors in an Outcome and Assessment Information Set 
(OASIS) item number.
    On page 62251, we inadvertently omitted a note following the table 
titled ``Table 2: OASIS Points Table for those Items Associated with 
Increases Resource Use Using a Reduced Set of OASIS Items, CY 2020''.

B. Summary of Errors in the Regulations Text

    On page 62419, in our amendatory instructions for Sec.  424.525, we 
made an inadvertent error in specifying the revisions to Sec.  
424.525(a)(3).

III. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking and Delay in Effective Date

    Under 5 U.S.C. 553(b) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 
the agency is required to publish a notice of the proposed rulemaking 
in the Federal Register before the provisions of a rule take effect. 
Similarly, section 1871(b)(1) of the Act requires the Secretary to 
provide for notice of the proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register 
and provide a period of not less than 60 days for public comment. In 
addition, section 553(d) of the APA, and section 1871(e)(1)(B)(i) of 
the Act mandate a 30-day delay in effective date after issuance or 
publication of a rule. Sections 553(b)(B) and 553(d)(3) of the APA 
provide for exceptions from the notice and comment and delay in 
effective date APA requirements; in cases in which these exceptions 
apply, sections 1871(b)(2)(C) and 1871(e)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act provide 
exceptions from the notice and 60-day comment period and delay in 
effective date requirements of the Act as well. Section 553(b)(B) of 
the APA and section 1871(b)(2)(C) of the Act authorize an agency to 
dispense with normal rulemaking requirements for good cause if the 
agency makes a finding that the notice and comment process are 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. In 
addition, both section 553(d)(3) of the APA and section 
1871(e)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act allow the agency to avoid the 30-day delay 
in effective date where such delay is contrary to the public interest 
and an agency includes a statement of support.
    We believe that this final rule correction does not constitute a 
rule that would be subject to the notice and comment or delayed 
effective date requirements. This document corrects typographical and 
technical errors in the CY 2022 HH PPS final rule, but does not make 
substantive changes to the policies or payment methodologies that were 
adopted in the final rule. As a result, this final rule correction is 
intended to ensure that the information in the CY 2022 HH PPS final 
rule accurately reflects the policies adopted in that document.
    In addition, even if this were a rule to which the notice and 
comment procedures 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 because it is in the public's 
interest for providers to receive appropriate payments in as timely a 
manner as possible, and to ensure that

[[Page 72532]]

the CY 2022 HH PPS final rule accurately reflects our policies. 
Furthermore, such procedures would be unnecessary, as we are not 
altering our payment methodologies or policies, but rather, we are 
simply implementing correctly the methodologies and policies that we 
previously proposed, requested comment on, and subsequently finalized. 
This final rule correction is intended solely to ensure that the CY 
2022 HH PPS final rule accurately reflects these payment methodologies 
and policies. Therefore, we believe we have good cause to waive the 
notice and comment and effective date requirements. Moreover, even if 
these corrections were considered to be retroactive rulemaking, they 
would be authorized under section 1871(e)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act, which 
permits the Secretary to issue a rule for the Medicare program with 
retroactive effect if the failure to do so would be contrary to the 
public interest. As we have explained previously, we believe it would 
be contrary to the public interest not to implement the corrections in 
this final rule correction because it is in the public's interest for 
providers to receive appropriate payments in as timely a manner as 
possible, and to ensure that the CY 2022 HH PPS final rule accurately 
reflects our policies.

IV. Correction of Errors

    In FR Doc. 2021-23993 of November 9, 2021 (86 FR 62240), make the 
following corrections:

A. Correction of Errors in the Preamble

    1. On page 62240, second column, fifth full paragraph, lines 3 
through 5, the phrase ``https://share.cms.gov/center/CCSQ/CSG/DIQS/LTC/LTCCOVIDReportingfinalrule/ please visit'' is corrected to read 
``please visit''.
    2. On page 62250, second column, second full paragraph, line 7, the 
figure ``M1032'' is corrected to read ``M1033''.
    3. On page 62251:
    a. In the Table titled ``Table 2: OASIS Points Table for those 
Items Associated with Increased Resource Use Using a Reduced Set of 
OASIS Items, CY 2020'', last row, first column, the ``M1032'' is 
corrected to read ``M1033''.
    b. Following the table, after the table note that begins ``Source: 
CY 2020'' and ends ``July 12, 2021'', the table notes are corrected by 
adding the following:
    ``Note: For the OASIS items in this table, the association between 
OASIS points and responses is directly associated with the resource use 
for each item.''.

B. Correction of Errors in the Regulations Text


Sec.  424.525   [Corrected]

0
1. On page 62419, second column, in Sec.  424.525, amendatory 
instruction 7b. is corrected to read as follows:
    ``b. In--
0
i. Paragraphs (a)(2) and (b) by removing the phrase ``prospective 
provider'' and adding the word ``provider'' in its place; and
0
ii. Paragraph (a)(3) by removing the phrase ``prospective institutional 
provider'' and adding the phrase ``institutional provider'' in its 
place; and''.

Karuna Seshasai,
Executive Secretary to the Department, Department of Health and Human 
Services.
[FR Doc. 2021-27568 Filed 12-21-21; 8:45 am]
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