Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 194 / Thursday, October 7, 2004 / Notices 60157

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. Send comments to Sandi 

Gambescia, CDC Assistant Reports 

Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, 

MS–E–11, Atlanta, GA 30333. Written 

comments should be received within 60 

days of this notice. 

Proposed Project 

An Evaluation Survey on the Use and 

Effectiveness of Internet SAMMEC, 

(0920–0624)—Extension—National 

Center for Chronic Disease Prevention 

and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC). 

Since 1987, CDC has used the 

Smoking-Attributable Mortality, 

Morbidity, and Economic Costs 

(SAMMEC) software to estimate the 

disease impact of smoking for the 

nation, states, and large populations. 

The Internet version of the SAMMEC 

software was released in 2002, and it 

contains two distinct computational 

programs, Adult SAMMEC and 

Maternal and Child Health SAMMEC, 

which can be used to estimate the 

adverse health outcomes and disease 

impact of smoking on adults and 

infants. 

Since the release of Internet 

SAMMEC, more than 1230 tobacco 

control professionals in the State health 

departments and other tobacco control 

institutions in the country have used 

SAMMEC to generate the data they need 

for their projects. Some of them have 

provided comments and sent requests 

for assistance. Of those users, 1000 will 

be recruited to participate in this 

survey. 

The purpose of this survey is to 

evaluate the use and effectiveness of the 

SAMMEC software and identify ways to 

improve the system so that it will better 

meet the needs of the users in tobacco 

control and prevention. There are no 

costs to the respondents except for their 

time in completing the questionnaire.

Respondents Number of

respondents 

Number of

responses per 

respondent 

Average burden per response

(in hrs.) 

Total burden

(in hrs.) 

Tobacco Control Professionals/Internet SAMMEC Users ............................... 1000 1 15/60 250 

Total .......................................................................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 250 

Dated: October 1, 2004. 

Alvin Hall, 

Director, Management Analysis and Services 

Office, Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention.

[FR Doc. 04–22552 Filed 10–6–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on 

HIV and STD Prevention and Treatment 

In accordance with section 10(a)(2) of 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(Pub. L. 92–463), the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC) and the 

Health Resources and Services 

Administration (HRSA) announce the 

following committee meeting. 

Name: CDC/HRSA Advisory 

Committee on HIV and STD Prevention 

and Treatment. 

Times and Dates: 8 a.m.–5 p.m., 

November 18, 2004. 8 a.m.–12 p.m., 

November 19, 2004. 

Place: Doubletree Hotel—Rockville, 

1740 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

Maryland. 

Status: Open to the public, limited 

only by the space available. The meeting 

room will accommodate approximately 

100 people. 

Purpose: This Committee is charged 

with advising the Secretary, the 

Director, CDC, and the Administrator, 

HRSA, regarding activities related to 

prevention and control of HIV/AIDS and 

other STDs, the support of health care 

services to persons living with HIV/

AIDS, and education of health 

professionals and the public about HIV/

AIDS and other STDs. 

Matters To Be Discussed: Agenda 

items include issues pertaining to (1) 

AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP); 

(2) Ryan White Reauthorization; and (3) 

Impact of Crystal Methamphetamine on 

STD rates and HIV. Agenda items are 

subject to change as priorities dictate.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Paulette Ford-Knights, Public Health 

Analyst, National Center for HIV, STD, 

and TB Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, 

NE., Mailstop E-07, Atlanta, Georgia 

30333. Telephone 404/639–8008, fax 

404/639–3125, e-mail pbf7@cdc.gov.

The Director, Management Analysis 

and Services Office, has been delegated 

the authority to sign Federal Register

Notices pertaining to announcements of 

meetings and other committee 

management activities, for both CDC 

and the Agency for Toxic Substances 

and Disease Registry.

Dated: September 30, 2004. 

Alvin Hall, 

Director, Management Analysis and Services 

Office, Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC).

[FR Doc. 04–22553 Filed 10–6–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–1360–CN] 

RIN 0938–AM82 

Medicare Program; Inpatient 

Rehabilitation Facility Prospective 

Payment System for Fiscal Year 2005; 

Correction

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.

ACTION: Notice; correction.

SUMMARY: This document corrects 

technical errors that appeared in the 

Federal Register notice on July 30, 

2004, entitled ‘‘Medicare Program; 

Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility 

Prospective Payment System for Fiscal 

Year 2005.’’ That notice updated 

prospective payment rates for inpatient 

rehabilitation facilities for Federal fiscal 

year 2005 as authorized under section 

1886(j)(3)(C) of the Social Security Act 

(the Act). In addition, section 1886(j)(5) 

of the Act requires the Secretary to 

publish in the Federal Register, on or 

before August 1 before each fiscal year, 

the classifications and weighting factors 

for the inpatient rehabilitation facility 

case mix groups and a description of the 

methodology and data used in 

computing the prospective payment 

rates for that fiscal year.

DATES: Effective for discharges occurring 

on or after October 1, 2004, and on or 

before September 30, 2005.

60158 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 194 / Thursday, October 7, 2004 / Notices 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

August Nemec, (410) 786–0612; or 

Jeannette Kranacs, (410) 786–9385.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

In CMS–1360–N, FR Doc. 04–17444 of 

July 30, 2004 (69 FR 45721), there were 

three technical errors that are identified 

and corrected in the Correction of Errors 

section below. The provisions in this 

correction notice are effective as if they 

had been included in the document 

published July 30, 2004. Accordingly, 

the corrections are effective for 

discharges occurring on or after October 

1, 2004, and on or before September 30, 

2005. 

We recently determined that several 

technical errors occurred in the 

publication of the wage index values for 

a number of specific Metropolitan 

Statistical Areas (MSAs). A description 

of those technical errors is included in 

the ‘‘Correction of Errors’’ section 

below. We note that correcting these 

technical errors is a purely 

administrative function that does not 

result in any change of policy or 

payment methodology. 

II. Correction of Errors 

In CMS–1360–N, FR Doc. 04–17444 of 

July 30, 2004 (69 FR 45721), make the 

following corrections: 

A. On page 45734, remove Stanly, NC 

from Urban Area 1520 CharlotteGastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC, because it 

has a rural designation instead of an 

urban designation. We note an error in 

the labeling of the wage index tables 

within the Inpatient Rehabilitation 

Facility Prospective Payment System 

(IRF PPS). That labeling error is the 

listing of Stanly County, NC as one of 

the urban areas under MSA 1520 when, 

in fact, we consider Stanly County, NC 

to be a rural area in North Carolina. 

Stanly County wage data have always 

been correctly treated as rural in the 

actual creation of the IRF wage index 

values, and it has only been the listing 

of Stanly County under MSA 1520 that 

was in error. Consequently, we are 

correcting our labeling error in the IRF 

PPS notice (CMS–1360–N), and have 

removed Stanly County from the list of 

areas that fall under the MSA 1520 wage 

index. Since this is strictly a labeling 

correction that does not affect the actual 

computation of the wage index values, 

IRFs in Stanly County, NC will continue 

to fall under, and use, the wage index 

for rural North Carolina. 

B. On page 45746, remove the wage 

index of 0.0000 for Urban Area 4150 

and in its place, add a wage index of 

0.8677. This change is made due the 

inadvertent insertion of 0.0000 for MSA 

4150 when it should have been 0.8677. 

C. On page 45757, remove the wage 

index of 0.0000 for Urban Area 7000 

and in its place, add a wage index of 

0.9757. This change is made due to the 

inadvertent insertion of 0.0000 for MSA 

7000 when it should have been 0.9757.

III. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking 

and Delayed 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 

regulation take effect. We can waive this 

procedure, however, if we find good 

cause that notice-and-comment 

procedure is impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest and incorporate a statement of 

the finding and the reasons for it into 

the notice issued. 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). We 

can also waive the 30-day delayed 

effective date of the Administrative 

Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(d)) when 

there is good cause to do so and we 

publish in the rule an explanation of our 

good cause. 

We find it unnecessary to undertake 

notice-and-comment rulemaking 

because this correction notice merely 

provides technical corrections to the 

July 30, 2004 notice. This correction 

notice corrects inadvertent drafting 

errors (that is, a labeling error with 

respect to Stanley County and the 

insertion of incorrect wage indexes for 

MSA 4150 and MSA 7000). We are not 

making substantive changes in policy, 

but rather, are simply implementing 

correctly the payment methodology that 

we long ago proposed, received 

comment on, and subsequently 

finalized. Thus, because the public has 

already had the opportunity to comment 

on the payment methodology used to 

calculate the wage indexes, additional 

comment would be unnecessary. 

In addition, publication of a 

substantive rule shall be made not less 

than 30 days before its effective date. 

We can waive this procedure, however, 

if we find good cause that a delayed 

effective date is impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest. 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). We believe 

a delayed effective date is unnecessary 

because this correction notice merely 

corrects inadvertent technical mistakes 

(that is, a labeling error with respect to 

Stanley County and the insertion of 

incorrect numbers in the wage indexes 

for MSA 4150 and MSA 7000). Further, 

we believe imposing a 30-day delay in 

the effective date would be contrary to 

the public interest with respect to IRF 

providers in MSA 4150 and MSA 7000. 

As a matter of good public policy, the 

rates used in the IRF PPS should not be 

based on wage indexes that contain 

inadvertent errors that, if not corrected, 

would have very real impacts on the 

payments received by providers in MSA 

4150 and MSA 7000. We believe that it 

is imperative that these providers 

receive appropriate IRF PPS payments 

and that failure to do so would be 

contrary to the public interest. 

Furthermore, the changes noted above 

do not make any substantive changes to 

the IRF PPS payment methodology or 

underlying payment policies. Therefore, 

we find good cause to waive the 30-day 

delayed 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 30, 2004. 

Ann C. Agnew, 

Executive Secretary to the Department.

[FR Doc. 04–22400 Filed 10–1–04; 11:46 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–1249–CN] 

RIN 0938–AM46

Medicare Program; Prospective 

Payment System and Consolidated 

Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; 

Corrections

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.

ACTION: Correction notice.

SUMMARY: This document corrects 

technical errors that appeared in the 

July 30, 2004 Federal Register, entitled 

‘‘Medicare Program; Prospective 

Payment System and Consolidated 

Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities—

Update—Notice.’’

DATES: This correction is effective 

October 1, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jeanette Kranacs, (410) 786–9385, Bill 

Ullman, (410) 786–5667, or Sheila 

Lambowitz, (410) 786–7605.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background 

In FR Doc. 04–17443 of July 30, 2004 

(69 FR 45775), there were a number of 

technical errors that are identified in 

this notice. It was recently determined 

that technical errors occurred in the 

hospital wage index calculation process