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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 242 (Friday, December 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78267-78281]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32107]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

[CMS-9068-N]

Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Quarterly Listing of Program 
Issuances--July Through September 2011

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This quarterly notice lists CMS manual instructions, 
substantive and interpretive regulations, and other Federal Register 
notices that were published from July through September 2011, relating 
to the Medicare and

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Medicaid programs and other programs administered by CMS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: It is possible that an interested 
party may need specific information and not be able to determine from 
the listed information whether the issuance or regulation would fulfill 
that need. Consequently, we are providing contact persons to answer 
general questions concerning each of the addenda published in this 
notice.

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                 Addenda                               Contact                          Phone number
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I CMS Manual Instructions................  Ismael Torres..................  (410) 786-1864
II Regulation Documents Published in the   Terri Plumb....................  (410) 786-4481
 Federal Register.
III CMS Rulings..........................  Tiffany Lafferty...............  (410) 786-7548
IV Medicare National Coverage              Wanda Belle....................  (410) 786-7491
 Determinations.
V FDA-Approved Category B IDEs...........  John Manlove...................  (410) 786-6877
VI Collections of Information............  Mitch Bryman...................  (410) 786-5258
VII Medicare -Approved Carotid Stent       Sarah J. McClain...............  (410) 786-2294
 Facilities.
VIII American College of Cardiology-       JoAnna Baldwin, MS.............  (410) 786-7205
 National Cardiovascular Data Registry
 Sites.
IX Medicare's Active Coverage-Related      Lori Ashby.....................  (410) 786-6322
 Guidance Documents.
X One-time Notices Regarding National      Lori Ashby.....................  (410) 786-6322
 Coverage Provisions.
XI National Oncologic Positron Emission    Stuart Caplan, RN, MAS.........  (410) 786-8564
 Tomography Registry Sites.
XII Medicare-Approved Ventricular Assist   JoAnna Baldwin, MS.............  (410) 786-7205
 Device (Destination Therapy) Facilities.
XIII Medicare-Approved Lung Volume         JoAnna Baldwin, MS.............  (410) 786-7205
 Reduction Surgery Facilities.
XIV Medicare-Approved Bariatric Surgery    Kate Tillman, RN, MAS..........  (410) 786-9252
 Facilities.
XV Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission    Stuart Caplan, RN, MAS.........  (410) 786-8564
 Tomography for Dementia Trials.
All Other Information....................  Annette Brewer.................  (410) 786-6580
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I. Background

    Among other things, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 
(CMS) is responsible for administering the Medicare and Medicaid 
programs and coordination and oversight of private health insurance. 
Administration and oversight of these programs involves the following: 
(1) Furnishing information to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, 
health care providers, and the public; and (2) maintaining effective 
communications with CMS regional offices, State governments, State 
Medicaid agencies, State survey agencies, various providers of health 
care, all Medicare contractors that process claims and pay bills, 
National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), health 
insurers, and other stakeholders. To implement the various statutes on 
which the programs are based, we issue regulations under the authority 
granted to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services 
under sections 1102, 1871, 1902, and related provisions of the Social 
Security Act (the Act) and Public Health Service Act. We also issue 
various manuals, memoranda, and statements necessary to administer and 
oversee the programs efficiently.
    Section 1871(c) of the Act requires that we publish a list of all 
Medicare manual instructions, interpretive rules, statements of policy, 
and guidelines of general applicability not issued as regulations at 
least every 3 months in the Federal Register.

II. Summary of the Solicitation for Comments and Response to Comments

    As explained in the notice with comment period that published in 
the August 8, 2011 Federal Register (76 FR 48564), technology has 
advanced since we published our first notice on June 9, 1988, and the 
information provided in this notice is now available in more efficient, 
economical, and accessible ways to meet the requirement for publication 
set forth in the statute. Each quarter, we publish the most current and 
relevant information; however, many of the quarterly notices simply 
duplicate the information that was previously published, since there 
often are no new relevant updates in some categories for the quarter. 
In addition, there is a 3-month lapse between the information available 
on the Web site and information covered by this quarterly notice.
    In the August 8, 2011 notice (76 FR 48564), we solicited comments 
on alternative formats to provide this information to the public. For 
example, we explained that we could publish a notice that provided only 
Web links to the addenda, or provide this information on a newly-
created CMS Quarterly Issuance Web page. We solicited comments and any 
additional information as to whether these alternative processes would 
improve accessibility to information. We also inquired whether a new 
format would pose a problem to those who access the information 
contained in this notice or pose an unintended burden to beneficiaries, 
providers, and suppliers. We did not receive any comments in response 
to our solicitation.

III. Revised Format for the Quarterly Issuance Notices

    While we are publishing the quarterly notice required by section 
1871(c) of the Act, we will no longer republish duplicative information 
that is available to the public elsewhere. We believe this approach is 
in alignment with CMS' commitment to the general principles of the 
President's Executive Order 13563 released January 2011entitled 
``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' which promotes 
modifying and streamlining an agency's regulatory program to be more 
effective in achieving regulatory objectives. Section 6 of Executive 
Order 13563 requires agencies to identify regulations that may be 
``outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and 
to modify, streamline, expand or repeal them in accordance with what 
has been learned.'' This approach is also in alignment with the 
President's Open Government and Transparency Initiative that 
establishes a system of transparency, public participation, and 
collaboration.
    Therefore, beginning with this quarterly notice, we will provide 
only the specific updates that have occurred in the 3-month period 
along with a hyperlink to the full listing that is available on the CMS 
Web site or the appropriate data registries that are used as our 
resources. This information is the most current up-to-date information, 
and will be available earlier than we publish our quarterly notice. We 
believe

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the Web site list provides more timely access for beneficiaries, 
providers, and suppliers. We also believe the Web site offers a more 
convenient tool for the public to find the full list of qualified 
providers for these specific services and offers more flexibility and 
``real time''accessibility. In addition, many of the Web sites have 
listservs; that is, the public can subscribe and receive immediate 
notification of any updates to the Web site. These listservs avoid the 
need to check the Web site, as notification of updates is automatic and 
sent to the subscriber as they occur. If assessing a Web site proves to 
be difficult, the contact person listed can provide information.

IV. How To Use the Notice

    This notice is organized into 15 addenda so that a reader may 
access the subjects published during the quarter covered by the notice 
to determine whether any are of particular interest. We expect this 
notice to be used in concert with previously published notices. Those 
unfamiliar with a description of our Medicare manuals should view the 
manuals at http://www.cms.gov/manuals.

    Authority:  (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 
93.773, Medicare--Hospital Insurance, Program No. 93.774, Medicare--
Supplementary Medical Insurance Program, and Program No. 93.714, 
Medical Assistance Program) .

    Dated: December 8, 2011 .
Jacquelyn Y. White,
Director, Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs.
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[FR Doc. 2011-32107 Filed 12-15-11; 8:45 am]
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