Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Notices 50373

of patients referred for transplants 

within the service area served by the 

designated OPO and within the service 

area served by the OPO with which the 

hospital seeks to enter into an 

agreement under the waiver. In making 

a waiver determination, section 

1138(a)(2)(B) of the Act provides that 

the Secretary may consider, among 

other factors: (1) Cost-effectiveness; (2) 

improvements in quality; (3) whether 

there has been any change in a 

hospital’s designated OPO due to the 

changes made in definitions for 

metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs); 

and (4) the length and continuity of a 

hospital’s relationship with an OPO 

other than the hospital’s designated 

OPO. Under section 1138(a)(2)(D) of the 

Act, the Secretary is required to publish 

a notice of any waiver application 

within 30 days of receiving the 

application, and to offer interested 

parties an opportunity to comment in 

writing during the 60-day period 

beginning on the publication date in the 

Federal Register. 

The criteria that the Secretary uses to 

evaluate the waiver in these cases are 

the same as those described above under 

sections 1138(a)(2)(A) and (B) of the Act 

and have been incorporated into the 

regulations at 42 CFR 486.316(e) and (f). 

II. Waiver Request Procedures 

In October 1995, we issued a Program 

Memorandum (Transmittal No. A–95–

11) detailing the waiver process and 

discussing the information that 

hospitals must provide in requesting a 

waiver. We indicated that upon receipt 

of a waiver request, we would publish 

a Federal Register notice to solicit 

public comments, as required by section 

1138(a)(2)(D) of the Act. 

According to these requirements, we 

will review the request and comments 

received. During the review process, we 

may consult on an as-needed basis with 

the Public Health Service’s Division of 

Transplantation, the United Network for 

Organ Sharing, and our regional offices. 

If necessary, we may request additional 

clarifying information from the applying 

hospital or others. We will then make a 

final determination on the waiver 

request and notify the hospital and the 

designated and requested OPOs. 

III. Hospital Waiver Request 

As permitted by 42 CFR 486.316(e), 

Rockford Health System of Rockford, 

Illinois has requested a waiver in order 

to enter into an agreement with an 

alternative, out-of-area OPO. Rockford 

Health System is requesting a waiver to 

work with: University of Wisconsin 

OPO, University of Wisconsin Hospital 

and Clinic, 600 Highland Avenue, 

Madison, Wisconsin 53792. Rockford 

Health System’s designated OPO is: Gift 

of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor 

Network, 660 North Industrial Drive, 

Elmhurst, Il 60126–1520. Rockford 

Health System must continue to work 

with its designated OPO until the 

completion of our review.

Authority: Section 1138 of the Social 

Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–8).

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program No. 93.773, Medicare—Hospital 

Insurance; Program No. 93.774, MedicareSupplementary Medical Insurance, and 

Program No. 93.778, Medical Assistance 

Program)

Dated: August 9, 2005. 

Mark B. McClellan, 

Administrator, Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services.

[FR Doc. 05–16796 Filed 8–25–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–4106–PN] 

Medicare Program; Changes in 

Medicare Advantage Deeming 

Authority

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.

ACTION: Proposed notice.

SUMMARY: This proposed notice 

announces that on September 26, 2005, 

we will begin to accept revisions from 

private accrediting organizations (AOs) 

who seek to modify their deeming 

authority.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This proposed notice is 

effective on September 26, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shaheen Halim, 410–786–0641.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Section 4001 of the Balanced Budget 

Act of 1997 (BBA) (Pub. L. 105–33), 

enacted on August 5, 1987, added 

section 1852(e)(4) to the Social Security 

Act (the Act), which gives us the 

authority to determine that a Medicare 

Advantage (MA) organization is deemed 

to be in compliance with certain 

Medicare requirements if the MA 

organization has been accredited (and is 

periodically reaccredited) by an 

accrediting organization that we have 

determined applies and enforces 

requirements at least as stringent as 

those the MA organization would be 

deemed to meet. Section 518 of the 

Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 

1999 (BBRA) (Pub. L. 106–113), enacted 

on November 29, 1999, amended section 

1852(e)(4) of the Act to expand the 

scope of deeming from two to six areas. 

Accrediting organizations may seek 

authority for any of the categories. The 

BBRA specified that we cannot require 

an accrediting entity to be able to certify 

plans for all the deeming categories. It 

also required us to determine, within 

210 days from the day the application 

is determined to be complete, the 

eligibility of the accrediting 

organizations to be granted deeming 

authority. Conditions and procedures 

for granting deeming authority to 

accrediting organizations are outlined in 

§ 422.157 and § 422.158 of title 42 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations. 

Since the start of the Medicare 

Deeming program, we have approved 

three organizations to be AOs. These 

consist of the National Committee for 

Quality Assurance, the Joint 

Commission on the Accreditation of 

Healthcare Organizations, and 

Accreditation Association for 

Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC). 

Section 722 of the Medicare 

Prescription Drug, Improvement, and 

Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) (Pub. 

L. 108–173) revised section 1852(e)(4) of 

the Act. When we published the final 

rule of the Medicare Advantage program 

on January 28, 2005 (70 FR 4588), we 

made further changes to several sections 

of the rules that apply to the AOs. These 

changes consisted of the addition of the 

Chronic Care Improvement Program 

requirements (§ 422.152), and the 

deletion of some requirements in the 

areas of access and quality improvement 

projects. (§ 422.112 and § 422.152). 

Furthermore, it added prescription drug 

program requirements to the deemable 

areas. These areas include: 

• Access to covered drugs, as 

provided under § 423.120 and § 423.124. 

• Drug utilization management 

programs, quality assurance measures 

and systems, and Medication Therapy 

Management Programs as provided 

under § 423.153. 

• Privacy, confidentiality, and 

accuracy of enrollee records, as 

provided under § 423.136. 

• A program to protect against fraud, 

waste and abuse, as described in 

§ 423.504(b)(4)(vi)(H). 

II. Provisions of the Proposed Notice 

This proposed notice announces that 

30 days after publication, we will begin 

to accept applications from national 

private AOs who seek to modify their 

deeming authority. The application will 

consist of a letter stating how the 

applicant will modify their 

50374 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Notices 

accreditation program to address the 

changes to the Medicare Advantage rule. 

At this time, we will not be adding the 

prescription drug program requirements 

to the deemable areas. Those 

requirements will be added at a later 

time. The letters should be sent to 

Shaheen Halim, Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, Mailstop C4–23–07, 

7500 Security Blvd, Baltimore, MD 

21244.

Authority: Section 1852(e)(4) of the Social 

Security Act

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program No. 93.773, Medicare—Hospital 

Insurance Program; and No. 93.774, 

Medicare—Supplementary Medical 

Insurance Program (42 U.S.C. 1395w–

22(e)(4)).

Dated: July 6, 2005. 

Mark B. McClellan, 

Administrator, Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services.

[FR Doc. 05–16799 Filed 8–25–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4121–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–1330–N] 

Medicare Program; Town Hall Meeting 

on the Medicare Provider Feedback 

Group (MPFG)—September 12, 2005

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: This notice announces a 

Town Hall meeting on the Medicare 

Provider Feedback Group (MPFG). The 

purpose of the meeting is to solicit facts 

and opinions from individual Medicare 

providers and suppliers on a variety of 

Medicare policy and operational issues. 

All Medicare providers and suppliers 

that participate in the Medicare 

program, including physicians, 

hospitals, home health agencies, and 

other third-party billers, are invited to 

attend this meeting. We will consider 

facts and opinions obtained from 

individual Medicare providers and 

suppliers. The meeting is open to the 

public, but attendance is limited to 

space available.

DATES: Meeting Date: The Town Hall 

meeting announced in this notice will 

be held on September 12, 2005 from 2 

p.m. to 4 p.m. EST.

ADDRESSES: The Town Hall meeting will 

be held in the Auditorium in the central 

building of the Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244–

1850.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eva 

Tetteyfio, (410) 786–3136. You may also 

send e-mail inquiries about this meeting 

to MFG@cms.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On November 16, 2004, we held the 

first Medicare Provider Feedback Town 

Hall meeting to solicit the facts and 

opinions of individual Medicare 

providers and suppliers. Topics 

discussed during the November 16, 

2004 meeting included Medicare Feefor-Service (FFS) Chronic Care 

Improvement Programs, CMS electronic 

medical records, CMS Provider 

Outreach, and consolidated billing. 

After the meeting, we conducted followup meetings to clarify information 

received and solicited additional 

comments. 

At the September 12, 2005 meeting, 

we will explain our design for gathering 

individual provider and supplier 

information and present topics for 

provider and supplier input. We will 

also solicit facts and opinions on how 

we can better serve the Medicare 

provider and supplier community. 

II. Meeting Format 

This meeting will begin with an 

overview of the goals and objectives of 

the meeting that includes a discussion 

of our efforts to gather feedback from 

individual Medicare providers and 

suppliers. We will introduce the 

meeting moderator. We will also 

introduce members of the Provider 

Communications Group, Center for 

Medicare Management, who will 

provide background information on the 

Medicare Provider Feedback Group 

initiative. Topics to be discussed during 

the meeting include: 

• The important information for 

individual providers and suppliers on 

our implementation of the National 

Provider Identifier (NPI). 

• The elimination of the Standard 

Paper Remittance (SPR) advice notices 

and their effect on individual provider 

and supplier practices. 

• The impact of the implementation 

and procurement of Medicare 

Contracting Reform on individual 

providers and suppliers. 

• A discussion and summary of the 

proposed rule for the 2006 physician 

fee-schedule. 

• The effect of a revised payment 

system for Ambulatory Surgical Center 

(ASC) facility services. 

• Individual perspectives from 

hospitals on how Medicare pays for new 

technologies. 

We will hold a question and answer 

session that offers meeting attendees an 

opportunity to provide feedback on the 

topics discussed. We will also solicit 

suggestions on how this process can be 

improved. 

III. Registration Instructions 

The Provider Communications Group, 

Center for Medicare Management, 

Division of Provider Relations and 

Evaluations is the coordinator for this 

meeting. On-line Registration: An online registration tool is available for 

interested individuals who wish to 

participate in the meeting in person, by 

teleconference, or listen to a digital 

recording of the meeting. The on-line 

registration system will capture contact 

information and practice characteristics 

such as names, e-mail addresses, and 

provider and supplier types.

Registration will begin on August 19, 

2005. Persons interested in attending 

the meeting and providing feedback 

must complete the on-line registration 

located at http://

registration.mshow.com/cms2/. The online registration system will generate a 

confirmation page to indicate the 

completion of your registration. 

Interested parties, who will attend the 

meeting in person, must print the 

confirmation page and bring it with 

them to the meeting. We encourage all 

interested parties to complete the 

registration as soon as possible. 

Registration after 12 p.m. on September 

9, 2005 will delay confirmation, and 

individuals may not be permitted 

entrance to the building. However, 

registrations received after September 

12 will enable individuals to listen to a 

digital recording of the meeting that will 

be available beginning 2 hours after the 

meeting through midnight on September 

14, 2005. The online registration will 

close on September 16, 2005. 

Teleconference Participation:

Individuals may participate in the 

public meeting by teleconference. The 

dial-in number is 877–357–7851 and the 

conference identification number is 

7970566. Physicians and other 

interested parties may speak or ask 

questions during the question and 

answer period facilitated by the 

moderator. Parties may also submit 

written comments to Eva Tetteyfio at 

MFG@cms.hhs.gov. 

IV. Security Information 

Since this meeting will be held in a 

Federal government building, Federal 

security measures are applicable. In 

planning your arrival time, we 

recommend allowing additional time to 

clear security. In order to gain access to 

the building and grounds, participants