[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 162 (Monday, August 22, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 52274-52275]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21292]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

38 CFR Part 51

RIN 2900-AN96


Expansion of State Home Care for Parents of a Child Who Died 
While Serving in the Armed Forces

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document amends Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 
regulations concerning the payment of per diem to a State for providing 
nursing home care to eligible veterans. The amendments remove a 
restriction on VA's payment of per diem, which required all non-veteran 
residents of a State home to be spouses of veterans, or parents of 
veterans all of whose children died while serving in the Armed Forces 
of the United States. Under this final rule, non-veteran residents of 
the State home must be spouses of veterans, or parents of veterans any 
of whose children died while serving in the Armed Forces.

DATES: Effective Date: This final rule is effective August 22, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Quest, Chief, State Veterans 
Home Clinical & Survey Oversight, Geriatrics and Extended Care Services 
(114), Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, 
810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420, (202) 461-6064. (This is 
not a toll free number.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under current 38 CFR 51.210(d), VA pays per 
diem to a State for providing nursing home care to eligible veterans in 
a State home if, among other things, all non-veteran residents of the 
home are spouses of veterans or parents of veterans all of whose 
children died while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. 
In Public Law 111-246, Congress mandated that VA administer Sec.  
51.210(d) to permit a State home to provide services to ``a non-veteran 
any of whose children died while serving in the Armed Forces.'' This 
final rule implements Public Law 111-246 by amending Sec.  51.210(d) to 
incorporate the language mandated by Congress. As amended, Sec.  
51.210(d) allows States to admit parents, ``any'' of whose children 
died while serving in the Armed Forces, to State homes without 
affecting VA per diem payments to States for care provided to veterans.

Effect of Rulemaking

    Title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, as revised by this final 
rule, represents VA's implementation of its exclusive legal authority 
on this subject. Other than future amendments to this regulation or 
governing statute or public law, no contrary rules or procedures are 
authorized. All existing or subsequent VA guidance must be read to 
conform with this rulemaking if possible or, if not possible, such 
guidance is superseded by this rulemaking.

Administrative Procedure Act

    These amendments incorporate a specific program requirement 
mandated by Congress. Accordingly, this rule is exempt from the prior 
notice-and-comment and delayed-effective-date requirements of 5 U.S.C. 
553.

Executive Order 12866

    Executive Order 12866 directs agencies to assess all costs and 
benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, when regulation is 
necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits 
(including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety, 
and other advantages; distributive impacts; and equity). The Executive 
Order classifies a regulatory action as a ``significant regulatory 
action,'' requiring review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
unless OMB waives such review, if it is a regulatory action that is 
likely to result in a rule that may: (1) Have an annual effect on the 
economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way 
the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, 
the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or Tribal 
governments or communities; (2) create a serious inconsistency or 
otherwise interfere with an action taken or

[[Page 52275]]

planned by another agency; (3) materially alter the budgetary impact of 
entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and 
obligations of recipients thereof; or (4) raise novel legal or policy 
issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or 
the principles set forth in the Executive Order.
    The economic, interagency, budgetary, legal, and policy 
implications of this final rule have been examined and it has been 
determined not to be a significant regulatory action under Executive 
Order 12866.

Unfunded Mandates

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 requires, at 2 U.S.C. 
1532, that agencies prepare an assessment of anticipated costs and 
benefits before issuing any rule that may result in expenditure by 
State, local, or Tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the 
private sector, of $100 million or more (adjusted annually for 
inflation) in any given year. This final rule would have no such effect 
on State, local, or Tribal governments, or on the private sector.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This document contains no provisions constituting a collection of 
information under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The initial and final regulatory flexibility analyses requirements 
of section 603 and 604 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-
612, are not applicable to this rule because a notice of proposed 
rulemaking is not required for this rule. Even so, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs hereby certifies that this final rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
as they are defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The State homes 
referenced in this final rule are State government entities under the 
control of State governments. All State homes are owned, operated and 
managed by State governments except for a small number that are 
operated by entities under contract with State governments. These 
contractors are not small entities. Therefore, this final rule is also 
exempt, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), from the initial and final 
regulatory flexibility analysis requirements of sections 603 and 604.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance numbers and titles are 
64.005, Grants to States for Construction of State Home Facilities; 
64.009, Veterans Medical Care Benefits; 64.010, Veterans Nursing Home 
Care; 64.015, Veterans State Nursing Home Care; 64.018, Sharing 
Specialized Medical Resources; 64.019.

Signing Authority

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or designee, approved this 
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document 
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as 
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. John R. 
Gingrich, Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs, approved this 
document on July 7, 2011, for publication.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 51

    Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Government 
contracts, Grant programs-health, Grant programs-veterans, Health care, 
Health facilities, Health professions, Health records, Mental health 
programs, Nursing homes, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, 
Travel and transportation expenses, Veterans.

    Dated: August 16, 2011.
Robert C. McFetridge,
Director of Regulation Policy and Management, Office of the General 
Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, VA amends 38 CFR part 51 as 
follows:

PART 51--PER DIEM FOR NURSING HOME CARE OF VETERANS IN STATE HOMES

0
1. The authority citation for part 51 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 38 U.S.C. 101, 501, 1710, 1741-1743, 1745.

0
2. Amend Sec.  51.210 by:
0
a. In paragraph (d), removing ``or parents all of whose children died 
while serving in the armed forces'' and adding, in its place, ``, or 
parents any of whose children died while serving in the Armed Forces''.
0
b. Revising the authority citation at the end of the section.
    The revision reads as follows:


Sec.  51.210  Administration.

* * * * *

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 101, 501, 1710, 1741-1743, 8135; Pub. L. 111-
246)


[FR Doc. 2011-21292 Filed 8-19-11; 8:45 am]
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