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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 7 (Monday, January 13, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2706-2707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00448]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

[CMS-3469-PN]

Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Application From The Joint 
Commission for Continued Approval of its Hospice Accreditation Program

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

ACTION: Notice with request for comment.

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SUMMARY: This proposed notice acknowledges the receipt of an 
application from The Joint Commission for continued recognition as a 
national accrediting organization for hospices that wish to participate 
in the Medicare or Medicaid programs.

DATES: To be assured consideration, comments must be received at one of 
the addresses provided below, no later than 5 p.m. on February 12, 
2025.

ADDRESSES: In commenting, refer to file code CMS-3469-PN.
    Comments, including mass comment submissions, must be submitted in 
one of the following three ways (please choose only one of the ways 
listed):
    1. Electronically. You may submit electronic comments on this 
regulation to http://www.regulations.gov . Follow the ``Submit a 
comment'' instructions.
    2. By regular mail. You may mail written comments to the following 
address ONLY:
    Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and 
Human Services, Attention: CMS-3469-PN, P.O. Box 8010, Baltimore, MD 
21244-8010.
    Please allow sufficient time for mailed comments to be received 
before the close of the comment period.
    3. By express or overnight mail. You may send written comments to 
the following address ONLY:
    Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and 
Human Services, Attention: CMS-3469-PN, Mail Stop C4-26-05, 7500 
Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lillian Williams, (410) 786-8636 or 
Melissa Rice, (410) 786-3270.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Inspection of Public Comments: All comments received before the 
close of the comment period are available for viewing by the public, 
including any personally identifiable or confidential business 
information that is included in a comment. We post all comments 
received before the close of the comment period on the following 
website as soon as possible after they have been received: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the search instructions on that website to 
view public comments. CMS will not post on Regulations.gov public 
comments that make threats to individuals or institutions or suggest 
that the commenter will take actions to harm an individual. CMS 
continues to encourage individuals not to submit duplicative comments. 
We will post acceptable comments from multiple unique commenters even 
if the content is identical or nearly identical to other comments.

I. Background

    Under the Medicare program, eligible beneficiaries may receive 
covered services in a hospice, provided that certain requirements are 
met by the hospice. Section 1861(dd) of the Social Security Act (the 
Act) establishes distinct criteria for facilities seeking designation 
as a hospice. 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. The regulations at 
42 CFR part 418 specify the conditions that a hospice must meet in 
order to participate in the Medicare program, the scope of covered 
services and the conditions for Medicare payment for hospice services.
    Generally, to enter into an agreement, a hospice must first be 
certified by a state survey agency (SA) as complying with the 
conditions or requirements set forth in part 418. Thereafter, the 
hospice is subject to regular surveys by a SA to determine whether it 
continues to meet these requirements.
    However, 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 conditions are met or exceeded, we will 
deem those provider entities as having met the 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 conditions. A national AO applying 
for approval of its accreditation program under 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 conditions. Our regulations concerning the 
approval of AOs are set forth at Sec. Sec.  488.4 and 488.5. The 
regulations at Sec.  488.5(e)(2)(i) require AOs to reapply for 
continued approval of its accreditation program every 6 years or sooner 
as determined by CMS.
    The Joint Commission's (TJC's) current term of approval for their 
hospice accreditation program expires June 18, 2025.

II. Approval of Deeming Organizations

    Section 1865(a)(2) of the Act and our regulations at Sec.  488.5 
require that our findings concerning review and approval of a national 
AO's requirements consider, among other factors, the applying AO's 
requirements for accreditation; survey procedures; resources for 
conducting required surveys; capacity to furnish information for use in 
enforcement activities; monitoring procedures for provider entities 
found not in compliance with the conditions or requirements; and 
ability to provide CMS with the necessary data for validation.
    Section 1865(a)(3)(A) of the Act further requires that we publish, 
within 60 days of receipt of an organization's complete application, a 
notice identifying the national accrediting body making the request, 
describing the nature of the request, and providing at least a 30-day 
public comment period. We have 210 days from the receipt of a complete 
application to publish notice of approval or denial of the application.
    The purpose of this proposed notice is to inform the public of 
TJC's request for continued approval of its hospice accreditation 
program. This notice also solicits public comment on whether TJC's 
requirements meet or exceed the Medicare conditions of participation 
(CoPs) for hospices.

III. Evaluation of Deeming Authority Request

    TJC submitted all the necessary materials to enable us to make a 
determination concerning its request for continued approval of its 
hospice accreditation program. This application

[[Page 2707]]

was determined to be complete on November 20, 2024. Under section 
1865(a)(2) of the Act and our regulations at Sec.  488.5 (Application 
and re-application procedures for national AOs), our review and 
evaluation of TJC will be conducted in accordance with, but not 
necessarily limited to, the following factors:
     The equivalency of TJC's standards for hospices as 
compared with CMS' hospice CoPs.
     TJC's survey process to determine the following:
    ++ The composition of the survey team, surveyor qualifications, and 
the ability of the organization to provide continuing surveyor 
training.
    ++ The comparability of TJC's processes to those of state agencies, 
including survey frequency, and the ability to investigate and respond 
appropriately to complaints against accredited facilities.
    ++ TJC's processes and procedures for monitoring hospices which are 
found out of compliance with TJC's program requirements. These 
monitoring procedures are used only when TJC identifies noncompliance. 
If noncompliance is identified through validation reviews or complaint 
surveys, the SA monitors corrections as specified at Sec.  488.9.
    ++ TJC's capacity to report deficiencies to the surveyed facilities 
and respond to the facility's plan of correction in a timely manner.
    ++ TJC's capacity to provide CMS with electronic data and reports 
necessary for effective validation and assessment of the organization's 
survey process.
    ++ The adequacy of TJC's staff and other resources, and its 
financial viability.
    ++ TJC's capacity to adequately fund required surveys.
    ++ TJC's policies with respect to whether surveys are announced or 
unannounced, to ensure that surveys are unannounced.
    ++ TJC's policies and procedures to avoid conflicts of interest, 
including the appearance of conflicts of interest, involving 
individuals who conduct surveys or participate in accreditation 
decisions.
    ++ TJC's agreement to provide CMS with a copy of the most current 
accreditation survey, together with any other information related to 
the survey as we may require (including corrective action plans).

IV. Collection of Information Requirements

    This document does not impose information collection requirements, 
that is, reporting, recordkeeping or third party disclosure 
requirements. Consequently, there is no need for review by the Office 
of Management and Budget under the authority of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

V. Response to Comments

    Because of the large number of public comments we normally receive 
on Federal Register documents, we are not able to acknowledge or 
respond to them individually. We will consider all comments we receive 
by the date and time specified in the DATES section of this preamble, 
and, when we proceed with a subsequent document, we will respond to the 
comments in the preamble to that document.
    The Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 
(CMS), Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, having reviewed and approved this 
document, authorizes Vanessa Garcia, who is the Federal Register 
Liaison, to electronically sign this document for purposes of 
publication in the Federal Register.

Vanessa Garcia,
Federal Register Liaison, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
[FR Doc. 2025-00448 Filed 1-10-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P
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