Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 238 / Wednesday, December 11, 2024 / Notices 99871 

The Director, Office of Strategic 

Business Initiatives, Office of the Chief 

Operating Officer, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, has been 

delegated the authority to sign Federal 

Register notices pertaining to 

announcements of meetings and other 

committee management activities, for 

both the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention and the Agency for Toxic 

Substances and Disease Registry. 

Kalwant Smagh, 

Director, Office of Strategic Business 

Initiatives, Office of the Chief Operating 

Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29004 Filed 12–10–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

Notice of Closed Meeting 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 1009(d), notice is 

hereby given of the following meeting. 

The meeting will be closed to the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions set forth in sections 

552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C., 

as amended, and the Determination of 

the Director, Office of Strategic Business 

Initiatives, Office of the Chief Operating 

Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, pursuant to Public Law 92– 

463. The grant applications and the 

discussions could disclose confidential 

trade secrets or commercial property 

such as patentable material, and 

personal information concerning 

individuals associated with the grant 

applications, the disclosure of which 

would constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of personal privacy. 

Name of Committee: Disease, 

Disability, and Injury Prevention and 

Control Special Emphasis Panel (SEP)— 

CE25–026, Rigorously Evaluating 

Programs and Policies to Prevent Child 

Sexual Abuse and Problematic Sexual 

Behavior among Youth. 

Dates: April 29–30, 2025. 

Times: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., EDT. 

Place: Web Conference. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

For Further Information Contact: 

Aisha L. Wilkes, M.P.H., Scientific 

Review Officer, National Center for 

Injury Prevention and Control, Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention, 

4770 Buford Highway NE, Mailstop 

S106–9, Atlanta, Georgia 30341. 

Telephone: (404) 639–6473; Email: 

AWilkes@cdc.gov. 

The Director, Office of Strategic 

Business Initiatives, Office of the Chief 

Operating Officer, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, has been 

delegated the authority to sign Federal 

Register notices pertaining to 

announcements of meetings and other 

committee management activities, for 

both the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention and the Agency for Toxic 

Substances and Disease Registry. 

Kalwant Smagh, 

Director, Office of Strategic Business 

Initiatives, Office of the Chief Operating 

Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29008 Filed 12–10–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

Disease, Disability, and Injury 

Prevention and Control Special 

Emphasis Panel (SEP)—TS25–036, 

Identify and Evaluate Potential Risk 

Factors for ALS; Amended Notice of 

Closed Meeting 

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, Department of Health and 

Human Services. 

ACTION: Notice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carlisha Gentles, Pharm.D., B.C.P.S., 

C.D.C.E.S., Scientific Review Officer, 

National Center for Injury Prevention 

and Control, Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway 

NE, Mailstop S106–9, Atlanta, Georgia 

30341. Telephone: (770) 488–1504; 

Email: CGentles@cdc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is 

hereby given of a change in the meeting 

of the Disease, Disability, and Injury 

Prevention and Control Special 

Emphasis Panel (SEP)—TS25–036, 

Identify and Evaluate Potential Risk 

Factors for ALS; February 25–26, 2025, 

10 a.m.–5 p.m., EST, web conference, in 

the original Federal Register notice. The 

meeting notice was published in the 

Federal Register on December 2, 2024, 

89 FR 95215. 

This meeting notice is being amended 

to change the meeting dates from a twoday meeting to a one-day meeting. The 

notice should read as follows: 

Name of Committee: Disease, 

Disability, and Injury Prevention and 

Control Special Emphasis Panel (SEP)— 

TS25–036, Identify and Evaluate 

Potential Risk Factors for ALS. 

Date: February 25, 2025. 

Time: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., EST. 

The meeting is closed to the public. 

The Director, Office of Strategic 

Business Initiatives, Office of the Chief 

Operating Officer, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, has been 

delegated the authority to sign Federal 

Register notices pertaining to 

announcements of meetings and other 

committee management activities, for 

both the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention and the Agency for Toxic 

Substances and Disease Registry. 

Kalwant Smagh, 

Director, Office of Strategic Business 

Initiatives, Office of the Chief Operating 

Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29009 Filed 12–10–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[Document Identifiers: CMS–10515 and 

CMS–10780] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, Health and Human 

Services (HHS). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing 

an opportunity for the public to 

comment on CMS’ intention to collect 

information from the public. Under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA), federal agencies are required to 

publish notice in the Federal Register 

concerning each proposed collection of 

information (including each proposed 

extension or reinstatement of an existing 

collection of information) and to allow 

60 days for public comment on the 

proposed action. Interested persons are 

invited to send comments regarding our 

burden estimates or any other aspect of 

this collection of information, including 

the necessity and utility of the proposed 

information collection for the proper 

performance of the agency’s functions, 

the accuracy of the estimated burden, 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected, and the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology to minimize the 

information collection burden. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

February 10, 2025. 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
99872 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 238 / Wednesday, December 11, 2024 / Notices 

ADDRESSES: When commenting, please 

reference the document identifier or 

OMB control number. To be assured 

consideration, comments and 

recommendations must be submitted in 

any one of the following ways: 

1. Electronically. You may send your 

comments electronically to http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for ‘‘Comment or 

Submission’’ or ‘‘More Search Options’’ 

to find the information collection 

document(s) that are accepting 

comments. 

2. By regular mail. You may mail 

written comments to the following 

address: CMS, Office of Strategic 

Operations and Regulatory Affairs; 

Division of Regulations Development; 

Attention: Document Identifier/OMB 

Control Number:__Room C4–26–05; 

7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, 

Maryland 21244–1850. 

To obtain copies of a supporting 

statement and any related forms for the 

proposed collection(s) summarized in 

this notice, please access the CMS PRA 

website by copying and pasting the 

following web address into your web 

browser: https://www.cms.gov/ 

Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/ 

PaperworkReductionActof1995/PRAListing 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William N. Parham at (410) 786–4669. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Contents 

This notice sets out a summary of the 

use and burden associated with the 

following information collections. More 

detailed information can be found in 

each collection’s supporting statement 

and associated materials (see 

ADDRESSES). 

CMS–10515 Payment Collections 

Operations Contingency Plan 

CMS–10780 Requirements Related to 

Surprise Billing: Qualifying Payment 

Amount, Notice and Consent, 

Disclosure on Patient Protections 

Against Balance Billing, and State 

Law Opt-in 

Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501– 

3520), federal agencies must obtain 

approval from the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for each collection of 

information they conduct or sponsor. 

The term ‘‘collection of information’’ is 

defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 

1320.3(c) and includes agency requests 

or requirements that members of the 

public submit reports, keep records, or 

provide information to a third party. 

Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA 

requires federal agencies to publish a 

60-day notice in the Federal Register 

concerning each proposed collection of 

information, including each proposed 

extension or reinstatement of an existing 

collection of information, before 

submitting the collection to OMB for 

approval. To comply with this 

requirement, CMS is publishing this 

notice. 

Information Collections 

1. Type of Information Collection 

Request: Revision of a currently 

approved collection; Title of 

Information Collection: Payment 

Collections Operations Contingency 

Plan; Use: The Patient Protection and 

Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111– 

148, enacted on March 23, 2010, and the 

Health Care and Education 

Reconciliation Act, Public Law 111– 

152, enacted on March 30, 2010 

[collectively, the ‘‘Affordable Care Act’’ 

(ACA)], provides for consumers to 

receive subsidies based on income to 

purchase affordable health care on the 

Exchanges. The U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services (HHS) uses 

a manual process to obtain enrollment 

and payment data from issuers in States 

transitioning from Federally-facilitated 

Exchanges (FFEs) and State-based 

Exchanges on the Federal platform 

(SBE–FPs) to State-based Exchanges 

(SBEs) to facilitate the payment of 

subsidies to issuers on behalf of eligible 

enrollees. This document describes the 

data collection requirements related to 

this manual process, known as the 

Enrollment and Payment Data template. 

This extension reduces burden 

compared to the currently approved 

collection based on recent program 

experience. Form Number: CMS–10515 

(OMB Control Number: 0938–1217); 

Frequency: Annually; Affected Public: 

Private Sector, Business or other forprofit and not-for-profit institutions; 

Number of Respondents: 25; Number of 

Responses: 150; Total Annual Hours: 

1,500. (For policy questions regarding 

this collection, contact Jacquelyn 

Rudich at 301–492–5211.) 

2. Type of Information Collection 

Request: Revision of a currently 

approved collection; Title of 

Information Collection: Requirements 

Related to Surprise Billing: Qualifying 

Payment Amount, Notice and Consent, 

Disclosure on Patient Protections 

Against Balance Billing, and State Law 

Opt-in; Use: On December 27, 2020, the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 

(Pub. L. 116–260), which included the 

No Surprises Act, was signed into law. 

The No Surprises Act provides federal 

protections against surprise billing and 

limits out-of-network cost sharing under 

many of the circumstances in which 

surprise medical bills arise most 

frequently. The July 13, 2021 interim 

final rules ‘‘Requirements Related to 

Surprise Billing; Part I’’ (86 FR 36872, 

July 2021 interim final rules) issued by 

the Department of Health and Human 

Services, the Department of Labor, the 

Department of the Treasury, and the 

Office of Personnel Management, 

implement provisions of the No 

Surprises Act that apply to group health 

plans, health insurance issuers offering 

group or individual health insurance 

coverage, and carriers in the Federal 

Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) 

Program that provide protections against 

balance billing and out-of-network cost 

sharing with respect to emergency 

services, non-emergency services 

furnished by nonparticipating providers 

related to patient visits to certain types 

of participating health care facilities, 

and services furnished by 

nonparticipating providers of air 

ambulance services. The July 2021 

interim final rules prohibit 

nonparticipating providers, emergency 

facilities, and providers of air 

ambulance services from balance billing 

participants, beneficiaries, and enrollees 

in certain situations unless they satisfy 

certain notice and consent 

requirements. 

The No Surprises Act and the July 

2021 interim final rules require group 

health plans and issuers of health 

insurance coverage to provide 

information about qualifying payment 

amounts (QPAs) to nonparticipating 

providers and facilities and to provide 

disclosures on patient protections 

against balance billing to participants, 

beneficiaries and enrollees. Self-insured 

plans opting in to a specified state law 

are required to provide a disclosure to 

participants. Certain nonparticipating 

providers and nonparticipating 

emergency facilities may provide 

participants, beneficiaries, and enrollees 

with notice and obtain their consent to 

waive balance billing protections, 

provided certain requirements are met. 

In addition, certain providers and 

facilities are required to provide 

disclosures on patient protections 

against balance billing to participants, 

beneficiaries and enrollees. The No 

Surprises Act requires the Secretary of 

HHS to audit no more than 25 group 

health plans and health insurance 

issuers offering group or individual 

health insurance coverage annually, and 

permits additional audits based on 

complaints, to ensure that such plans 

and coverage are in compliance with the 

requirement of applying a QPA and that 

the QPA applied satisfies the definition 

under the No Surprises Act with respect 

to the year involved. Form Number: 

CMS–10780 (OMB control number: 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 238 / Wednesday, December 11, 2024 / Notices 99873 

0938–1401); Frequency: On Occasion; 

Affected Public: Individuals, State, 

Local, or Tribal Governments, Private 

Sector; Number of Respondents: 

2,477,197; Total Annual Responses: 

85,148,199; Total Annual Hours: 

6,006,654. (For policy questions 

regarding this collection, contact Russell 

Tipps at 667–290–9640.) 

William N. Parham III, 

Director, Division of Information Collections 

and Regulatory Impacts, Office of Strategic 

Operations and Regulatory Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29002 Filed 12–10–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–3460–FN] 

Medicare and Medicaid Programs: 

Approval of Application by the DNV 

Healthcare USA, Inc. for Continued 

CMS-Approval of Its Critical Access 

Hospital Accreditation Program 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice acknowledges the 

approval of an application by the DNV 

Healthcare USA, Inc., for continued 

recognition as a national accrediting 

organization for Critical Access 

Hospitals that wish to participate in the 

Medicare or Medicaid programs. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Caecilia Andrews, (410) 786–2190. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Under the Medicare program, eligible 

beneficiaries may receive covered 

services in a critical access hospital 

(CAH), provided that the facility meets 

certain requirements. Sections 

1820(c)(2)(B), 1820(e), and 1861(mm)(1) 

of the Social Security Act (the Act) 

establish distinct criteria for facilities 

seeking designation as a CAH. 

Regulations concerning provider 

agreements are at 42 CFR part 489 and 

those pertaining to activities relating to 

the survey and certification of facilities 

are at 42 CFR part 488. Our regulations 

at 42 CFR part 485, subpart F specify the 

conditions of participation (CoPs) that a 

CAH must meet to participate in the 

Medicare program, the scope of covered 

services, and the conditions for 

Medicare payment for CAHs. The 

regulations at § 485.647 specify that a 

CAH’s psychiatric or rehabilitation 

distinct part unit (DPU), if any, must 

meet the hospital requirements 

specified in subparts A, B, C, and D of 

part 482 in order for the CAH DPU to 

participate in the Medicare program. 

Prior to becoming a CAH, to enter into 

an agreement, a CAH must first be 

certified by a state survey agency as a 

hospital complying with the conditions 

of participation at 42 CFR part 482. It 

then can convert to a CAH by complying 

with the conditions or requirements at 

part 485, subpart F. Thereafter, the CAH 

is subject to regular surveys by a state 

survey agency to determine whether it 

continues to meet these requirements. 

However, there is an alternative to 

surveys by state agencies. Certification 

by a nationally recognized accreditation 

program can substitute for ongoing state 

review. 

Section 1865(a)(1) of the Act provides 

that, if a provider entity demonstrates 

through accreditation by a Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 

approved national accrediting 

organization (AO) that all applicable 

Medicare requirements are met or 

exceeded, we will deem those provider 

entities as having met such 

requirements. Accreditation by an AO is 

voluntary and is not required for 

Medicare participation. 

If an AO is recognized by the 

Secretary of the Department of Health 

and Human Services (the Secretary) as 

having standards for accreditation that 

meet or exceed Medicare requirements, 

any provider entity accredited by the 

national accrediting body’s approved 

program would be deemed to meet the 

Medicare requirements. A national AO 

applying for approval of its 

accreditation program under 42 CFR 

part 488, subpart A, must provide CMS 

with reasonable assurance that the AO 

requires the accredited provider entities 

to meet requirements that are at least as 

stringent as the Medicare requirements. 

Our regulations concerning the 

approval of AOs are at §§ 488.4 and 

488.5. The regulations at § 488.5(e)(2)(i) 

require an AO to reapply for continued 

approval of its accreditation program 

every 6 years or sooner, as determined 

by CMS. This notice is to announce our 

continued approval of the DNV 

Healthcare USA, Inc.’s (DNV’s) CAH 

accreditation program for a period of 4 

years. 

II. Application Approval Process 

Section 1865(a)(3)(A) of the Act 

provides a statutory timetable to ensure 

that our review of applications for CMSapproval of an accreditation program is 

conducted in a timely manner. The Act 

provides us 210 days after the date of 

receipt of a complete application, with 

any documentation necessary to make 

the determination, to complete our 

survey activities and application 

process. Within 60 days after receiving 

a complete application, we must 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

that identifies the national accrediting 

body making the request, describes the 

request, and provides no less than a 30- 

day public comment period. At the end 

of the 210-day period, we must publish 

a notice in the Federal Register 

approving or denying the application. 

III. Provisions of the Proposed Notice 

On June 13, 2024, we published a 

proposed notice in the Federal Register 

(89 FR 50332), announcing DNV’s 

request for continued approval of its 

Medicare critical hospital accreditation 

program. In the proposed notice, we 

detailed our evaluation criteria. Under 

section 1865(a)(2) of the Act and in our 

regulations at § 488.5, we conducted a 

review of DNV’s Medicare CAH 

accreditation application in accordance 

with the criteria specified by our 

regulations, which include, but are not 

limited to the following: 

• An administrative review of DNV’s: 

(1) corporate policies; (2) financial and 

human resources available to 

accomplish the proposed surveys; (3) 

procedures for training, monitoring, and 

evaluation of its surveyors; (4) ability to 

investigate and respond appropriately to 

complaints against accredited facilities; 

and (5) survey review and decisionmaking process for accreditation. 

• A comparison of DNV’s 

accreditation to our current Medicare 

CAH conditions of participation (CoPs). 

• A documentation review of DNV’s 

survey process to: 

++ Determine the composition of the 

survey team, surveyor qualifications, 

and DNV’s ability to provide continuing 

surveyor training. 

++ Compare DNV’s processes to those 

of state survey agencies, including 

survey frequency, and the ability to 

investigate and respond appropriately to 

complaints against accredited facilities. 

++ Evaluate DNV’s procedures for 

monitoring CAHs out of compliance 

with DNV’s program requirements. The 

monitoring procedures are used only 

when DNV identifies noncompliance. If 

noncompliance is identified through 

validation reviews, the state survey 

agency monitors corrections as specified 

at § 488.7(d). 

++ Assess DNV’s ability to report 

deficiencies to the surveyed facilities 

and respond to the facility’s plan of 

correction in a timely manner. 

++ Establish DNV’s ability to provide 

CMS with electronic data and reports 

necessary for effective validation and 


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