[Federal Register: October 1, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 191)]
[Rules and Regulations]               
[Page 56998-56999]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01oc08-12]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

[CMS-1534-CN]

42 CFR Part 413

RIN 0938-AP11

 
Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated 
Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Correction

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

ACTION: Final rule; correction.

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SUMMARY: This document corrects technical errors that appeared in the 
August 8, 2008 Federal Register entitled, ``Medicare Program; 
Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing 
Facilities for FY 2009.''

DATES: Effective Date: This correction is effective October 1, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill Ullman, (410) 786-5667.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    In FR Doc. E8-17948 of August 8, 2008 (73 FR 46416), there were two 
technical errors that this notice serves to identify and correct. The 
corrections in this correction notice are effective as if they had been 
included in the document published on August 8, 2008. Accordingly, the 
corrections are effective October 1, 2008.

II. Summary of Errors

    On page 46430 of the August 8, 2008 final rule, we are correcting 
the title of Table 10. This table illustrates the skilled nursing 
facility (SNF) prospective payment system (PPS) payment rate 
computations for a hypothetical ``XYZ'' SNF located in Cedar Rapids, 
IA. In the table's title, the wage index value for Cedar Rapids, IA is 
incorrectly identified as 0.8924. Accordingly, in section III of this 
document (``Correction of Errors''), we are correcting the wage index 
value in the title of Table 10 to reflect the correct wage index value 
of 0.8919. We note

[[Page 56999]]

that the entries for this value that appear in the ``wage index'' 
column of the table itself, as well as the corresponding entry for CBSA 
16300 in Table 8 (``FY 2009 Wage Index for Urban Areas Based on CBSA 
Labor Market Areas,'' which appeared as an addendum to the August 8, 
2008 final rule), both correctly reflect this value as 0.8919.
    In addition, in the addendum to the August 8, 2008 final rule, we 
are revising an entry in Table 9 (``FY 2009 Wage Index Based on CBSA 
Labor Market Areas for Rural Areas'') in order to correct a technical 
error made to the wage data for one inpatient hospital provider in 
rural New Hampshire. We are revising the wage index value displayed in 
Table 9 for rural New Hampshire from ``1.0182'' to the corrected value 
of ``1.0219''. Since this revision involves only a single entry in 
Table 9, we are not republishing the table in its entirety in this 
notice; however, we note that the corrected version of this table is 
available on the SNF PPS Web site, which can be accessed online at 
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/SNFPPS/.

III. Correction of Errors

    In FR Doc. E8-17948 (73 FR 46416), make the following corrections:
    1. On page 46430, in Table 10, the wage index value ``0.8924'' 
displayed in the title is revised to read ``0.8919''.
    2. On page 46462, in Table 9, in the wage index column for New 
Hampshire, State code 30, the wage index value ``1.0182'' is revised to 
read ``1.0219''.

IV. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking and Delayed Effective Date

    We ordinarily publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register to 
provide a period for public comment before the provisions of a rule 
such as this take effect in accordance with section 553(b) of the 
Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553(b)). We also 
ordinarily provide a 30-day delay in the effective date of the 
provisions of a notice in accordance with section 553(d) of the APA (5 
U.S.C. 553(d)). However, we can waive both the notice and comment 
procedure and the 30-day delay in effective date if the Secretary 
finds, for good cause, that a notice and comment process is 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and 
incorporates a statement of the finding and the reasons for it in the 
notice.
    We find for good cause that it is unnecessary to undertake notice 
and comment rulemaking because this notice merely provides technical 
corrections to the regulations. We are not making substantive changes 
to our payment methodologies or policies, but rather, are simply 
implementing correctly the payment methodologies and policies that we 
previously proposed, received comment on, and subsequently finalized. 
The public has already had the opportunity to comment on these payment 
methodologies and policies, and this correction notice is intended 
solely to ensure that the FY 2009 SNF PPS final rule accurately 
reflects them. Therefore, we believe that undertaking further notice 
and comment procedures to incorporate these corrections into the final 
rule is unnecessary and contrary to the public interest.
    Further, we believe a delayed effective date is unnecessary because 
this correction notice merely corrects inadvertent technical errors. 
The changes noted above do not make any substantive changes to the SNF 
PPS payment methodologies or policies. Moreover, we regard imposing a 
delay in the effective date as being contrary to the public interest. 
We believe that it is in the public interest for providers to receive 
appropriate SNF PPS payments in as timely a manner as possible and to 
ensure that the FY 2009 SNF PPS final rule accurately reflects our 
payment methodologies, payment rates, and policies. Therefore, we find 
good cause to waive notice and comment procedures, as well as the 30-
day delay in effective date.

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

    Dated: September 29, 2008.
Ashley Files Flory,
Deputy Executive Secretary to the Department.
[FR Doc. E8-23253 Filed 9-30-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4120-01-P