7844 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 29 / Thursday, February 12, 2015 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

DoD Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health 

Care Board of Actuaries; Notice of 

Federal Advisory Committee Meeting 

AGENCY: DoD. 

ACTION: Meeting notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Defense is 

publishing this notice to announce a 

meeting of the DoD Medicare-Eligible 

Retiree Health Care Board of Actuaries. 

This meeting will be open to the public. 

DATES: Friday, July 31, 2015, from 10:00 

a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: 4800 Mark Center Drive, 

Conference Room 18, Level B1, 

Alexandria, VA 22350. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kathleen Ludwig at the Defense Human 

Resource Activity, DoD Office of the 

Actuary, 4800 Mark Center Drive, STE 

05E22, Alexandria, VA 22350–7000. 

Phone: 571–372–1993. Email: 

Kathleen.A.Ludwig.civ@mail.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

meeting is being held under the 

provisions of the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C., 

Appendix, as amended), the 

Government in the Sunshine Act of 

1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended), and 

41 CFR 102–3.150. 

Purpose of the Meeting: The purpose 

of the meeting is to execute the 

provisions of 10 U.S.C. chapter 56 (10 

U.S.C. 1114 et seq). The Board shall 

review DoD actuarial methods and 

assumptions to be used in the valuation 

of benefits under DoD retiree health care 

programs for Medicare-eligible 

beneficiaries. 

Agenda 

1. Meeting Objective 

Approve actuarial assumptions and 

methods needed for calculating: 

i. FY 2017 per capita full-time and parttime normal cost amounts 

ii. September 30, 2014, unfunded 

liability (UFL) 

iii. October 1, 2015, Treasury UFL 

amortization and normal cost 

payments 

2. Trust Fund Update 

3. Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Care 

Fund Update 

4. September 30, 2013, Actuarial 

Valuation Results 

5. September 30, 2014, Actuarial 

Valuation Proposals 

6. Decisions 

Actuarial assumptions and methods 

needed for calculating: 

a. FY 2017 per capita full-time and parttime normal cost amounts 

b. September 30, 2014, unfunded 

liability (UFL) 

c. October 1, 2015, Treasury UFL 

amortization and normal cost 

payments 

Public’s Accessibility to the Meeting: 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b and 41 CFR 

102–3.140 through 102–3.165 and the 

availability of space, this meeting is 

open to the public. Seating is on a first 

come basis. The Mark Center is an 

annex of the Pentagon. Those without a 

valid DoD Common Access Card must 

contact Kathleen Ludwig at 571–372– 

1993 no later than June 30, 2015. Failure 

to make the necessary arrangements will 

result in building access being denied. 

It is strongly recommended that 

attendees plan to arrive at the Mark 

Center at least 30 minutes prior to the 

start of the meeting. 

Pursuant to 41 CFR 102–3.105(j) and 

102–3.140, and section 10(a)(3) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act of 

1972, the public or interested 

organizations may submit written 

comments to the Board about its 

mission and topics pertaining to this 

public meeting. 

Committee’s Designated Federal 

Officer or Point of Contact: Persons 

desiring to attend the DoD MedicareEligible Retiree Health Care Board of 

Actuaries meeting or make an oral 

presentation or submit a written 

statement for consideration at the 

meeting, must notify Kathleen Ludwig 

at (571) 372–1993, or 

Kathleen.A.Ludwig.civ@mail.mil, by 

June 30, 2015. 

Dated: February 6, 2015. 

Aaron Siegel, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2015–02872 Filed 2–11–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

TRICARE; Civilian Health and Medical 

Program of the Uniformed Services 

(CHAMPUS); Fiscal Year 2015 

Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) 

Updates 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of DRG revised rates. 

SUMMARY: This notice describes the 

changes made to the TRICARE DRGbased payment system in order to 

conform to changes made to the 

Medicare Prospective Payment System 

(PPS). It also provides the updated fixed 

loss cost outlier threshold, cost-tocharge ratios, and the data necessary to 

update the FY 2015 rates. 

DATES: Effective Dates: The rates, 

weights, and Medicare PPS changes 

which affect the TRICARE DRG-based 

payment system contained in this notice 

are effective for discharges occurring on 

or after October 1, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Defense Health Agency, 

TRICARE, Medical Benefits and 

Reimbursement Office, 16401 East 

Centretech Parkway, Aurora, CO 80011– 

9066. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amber L. Butterfield, Medical Benefits 

and Reimbursement Office, TRICARE, 

telephone (303) 676–3565. 

Questions regarding payment of 

specific claims under the TRICARE 

DRG-based payment system should be 

addressed to the appropriate contractor. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final 

rule published on September 1, 1987 (52 

FR 32992) set forth the basic procedures 

used under the CHAMPUS DRG-based 

payment system. This was subsequently 

amended by final rules published 

August 31, 1988 (53 FR 33461); October 

21, 1988 (53 FR 41331); December 16, 

1988 (53 FR 50515); May 30, 1990 (55 

FR 21863); October 22, 1990 (55 FR 

42560); and September 10, 1998 (63 FR 

48439). 

An explicit tenet of these final rules, 

and one based on the statute authorizing 

the use of DRGs by TRICARE, is that the 

TRICARE DRG-based payment system is 

modeled on the Medicare PPS, and that, 

whenever practicable, the TRICARE 

system will follow the same rules that 

apply to the Medicare PPS. The Centers 

for Medicare and Medicaid Services 

(CMS) publishes these changes annually 

in the Federal Register and discusses in 

detail the impact of the changes. 

In addition, this notice updates the 

rates and weights in accordance with 

our previous final rules. The actual 

changes we are making, along with a 

description of their relationship to the 

Medicare PPS, are detailed below. 

I. Medicare PPS Changes Which Affect 

the TRICARE DRG-Based Payment 

System 

Following is a discussion of the 

changes CMS has made to the Medicare 

PPS that affect the TRICARE DRG-based 

payment system. 

A. DRG Classifications 

Under both the Medicare PPS and the 

TRICARE DRG-based payment system, 

cases are classified into the appropriate 

DRG by a Grouper program. The 

Grouper classifies each case into a DRG 

on the basis of the diagnosis and 

procedure codes and demographic 


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