Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 188 / Friday, September 28, 2007 / Notices 55273 

a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. You can 

make an appointment to inspect 

statements by telephoning (202) 622–

0990. All statements, including 

attachments and other supporting 

materials, received are part of the public 

record and subject to public disclosure. 

You should submit only information 

that you wish to make available 

publicly. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristen E. Jaconi, Senior Policy Advisor 

to the Under Secretary for Domestic 

Finance, Department of the Treasury, 

Main Department Building, 1500 

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20220, at (202) 927–

6618. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with section 10(a) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 

U.S.C. App. 1, section 10(a), and the 

regulations thereunder, David G. Nason, 

Designated Federal Officer of the 

Advisory Committee, has ordered 

publication of this notice that the 

Advisory Committee will convene its 

first meeting on Monday, October 15, 

2007, in the Cash Room in the Main 

Department Building, 1500 

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC, beginning at 10 a.m. 

Eastern Time. The meeting will be open 

to the public. Because the meeting will 

be held in a secured facility, members 

of the public who plan to attend the 

meeting must contact the Office of 

Domestic Finance, at (202) 622–4944, by 

5 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, 

October 11, 2007, to inform the 

Department of the desire to attend the 

meeting and to provide the information 

that will be required to facilitate entry 

into the Main Department Building. The 

purpose of this meeting is to discuss 

general organizational matters of the 

Advisory Committee and begin 

discussing the issues impacting the 

sustainability of the auditing profession. 

Dated: September 24, 2007. 

Taiya Smith, 

Executive Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E7–19140 Filed 9–27–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4811–42–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency 

[Docket ID OCC–2007–0015] 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

[Docket No. OP–1294] 

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE 

CORPORATION 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of Thrift Supervision 

[ID–OTS–2007–0018] 

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION 

ADMINISTRATION 

Proposed Guidance on Garnishment of 

Exempt Federal Benefit Funds 

AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of 

the Currency, Treasury (OCC); Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System (Board); Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Office of 

Thrift Supervision, Treasury (OTS); and 

National Credit Union Administration 

(NCUA) (collectively, the Agencies). 

ACTION: Notice with request for 

comment. 

SUMMARY: The Agencies are proposing 

guidance entitled Garnishment of 

Exempt Federal Benefit Funds. This 

proposed guidance has been developed 

to encourage financial institutions to 

have policies and procedures in place 

with respect to handling garnishment 

orders and sets forth best practices, 

including procedures designed to 

expedite notice to the consumer of the 

garnishment process and release of 

funds to the consumer as quickly as 

possible. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before November 27, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: The Agencies will jointly 

review all of the comments submitted. 

Therefore, interested parties may send 

comments to any of the Agencies and 

need not send comments (or copies) to 

all of the Agencies. Please consider 

submitting your comments by e-mail or 

fax, since paper mail in the Washington 

area and at the Agencies is subject to 

delay. Interested parties are invited to 

submit comments to: 

OCC: You may submit comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: 

regs.comments@occ.treas.gov. 

• Fax: (202) 874–4448. 

• Mail: Office of the Comptroller of 

the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Mail 

Stop 1–5, Washington, DC 20219. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: 250 E 

Street, SW., Attn: Public Information 

Room, Mail Stop 1–5, Washington, DC 

20219. 

Instructions: You must include 

‘‘OCC’’ as the agency name and ‘‘Docket 

ID OCC–2007–0015’’ in your comment. 

In general, OCC will enter all comments 

received into the docket without 

change, including any business or 

personal information that you provide 

such as name and address information, 

e-mail addresses, or phone numbers. 

Comments, including attachments and 

other supporting materials, received are 

part of the public record and subject to 

public disclosure. Do not enclose any 

information in your comment or 

supporting materials that you consider 

confidential or inappropriate for public 

disclosure. 

You may review comments and other 

related materials by any of the following 

methods: 

• Viewing Comments Personally: You 

may personally inspect and photocopy 

comments at the OCC’s Public 

Information Room, 250 E Street, SW., 

Washington, DC. For security reasons, 

the OCC requires that visitors make an 

appointment to inspect comments. You 

may do so by calling (202) 874–5043. 

Upon arrival, visitors will be required to 

present valid government-issued photo 

identification and submit to security 

screening in order to inspect and 

photocopy comments. 

• Docket: You may also view or 

request available background 

documents and project summaries using 

the method described above. 

Board: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. OP–1294, by 

any of the following methods: 

• Agency Web Site: http:// 

www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments at 

http://www.federalreserve.gov/ 

generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• E-mail: 

regs.comments@federalreserve.gov. 

Include the docket number in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Fax: 202/452–3819 or 202/452–

3102. 

• Mail: Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary, 

Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System, 20th Street and 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20551. 

All public comments are available 

from the Board’s Web site at 

www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/ 

foia/ProposedRegs.cfm as submitted, 

unless modified for technical reasons. 

Accordingly, your comments will not be 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
55274 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 188 / Friday, September 28, 2007 / Notices 

edited to remove any identifying or 

contact information. Public comments 

may also be viewed in electronic or 

paper form in Room MP–500 of the 

Board’s Martin Building (20th and C 

Streets, NW.) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

on weekdays. 

FDIC: You may submit comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Agency Web Site: http:// 

www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal. 

Follow instructions for submitting 

comments on the Agency Web Site. 

• E-mail: Comments@FDIC.gov. 

Include ‘‘Garnishment Statement’’ in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Mail: Robert E. Feldman, Executive 

Secretary, Attention: Comments, Federal 

Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20429. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Guard 

station at the rear of the 550 17th Street 

Building (located on F Street) on 

business days between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

(EST). 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Public Inspection: All comments 

received will be posted without change 

to http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/ 

federal including any personal 

information provided. Comments may 

be inspected and photocopied in the 

FDIC Public Information Center, 3501 

North Fairfax Drive, Room E–1002, 

Arlington, VA 22226, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m. (EST) on business days. 

Paper copies of public comments may 

be ordered from the Public Information 

Center by telephone at (877) 275–3342 

or (703) 562–2200. 

OTS: You may submit comments, 

identified by ID OTS–2007–0018, by 

any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: 

regs.comments@ots.treas.gov. Please 

include ID OTS–2007–0018 in the 

subject line of the message and include 

your name and telephone number in the 

message. 

• Fax: (202) 906–6518. 

• Mail: Regulation Comments, Chief 

Counsel’s Office, Office of Thrift 

Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20552, Attention: ID 

OTS–2007–0018. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Guard’s 

Desk, East Lobby Entrance, 1700 G 

Street, NW., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on 

business days. Address envelope as 

follows: Attention: Regulation 

Comments, Chief Counsel’s Office, 

Attention: ID OTS–2007–0018. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number for this proposed 

Guidance. All comments received will 

be posted without change to the OTS 

Internet Site at http://www.ots.treas.gov/ 

pagehtml.cfm?catNumber=67&an=1, 

including any personal information 

provided. 

In addition, you may inspect 

comments at the Public Reading Room, 

1700 G Street, NW., by appointment. To 

make an appointment for access, call 

(202) 906–5922, send an e-mail to 

public.info@ots.treas.gov, or send a 

facsimile transmission to (202) 906–

7755. (Prior notice identifying the 

materials you will be requesting will 

assist us in serving you.) We schedule 

appointments on business days between 

10 a.m. and 4 p.m. In most cases, 

appointments will be available the next 

business day following the date we 

receive a request. 

NCUA: You may submit comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• NCUA Web Site: http:// 

www.ncua.gov/ 

RegulationsOpinionsLaws/ 

proposed_regs/proposed_regs.html. 

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• E-mail: Address to 

regcomments@ncua.gov. Include ‘‘[Your 

name] Comments on Proposed Guidance 

(Garnishment of Federal Benefit 

Payments)’’ in the e-mail subject line. 

• Fax: (703) 518–6319. Use the 

subject line described above for e-mail. 

• Mail: Address to Mary Rupp, 

Secretary of the Board, National Credit 

Union Administration, 1775 Duke 

Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314–

3428. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as 

mail address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

OCC: Michael Bylsma, Director, 

Community and Consumer Law 

Division, (202) 874–5750 or Ann 

Jaedicke, Deputy Comptroller, 

Compliance, (202) 874–4428, Office of 

the Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20219. 

Board: Legal Division: Kara L. 

Handzlik, Attorney (202) 452–3852, 

Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System, 20th Street and 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20551. Users of Telecommunication 

Device for Deaf only, call (202) 263–

4869. 

FDIC: Patricia Cashman, Senior Policy 

Analyst, Division of Supervision and 

Consumer Protection, (202) 898–6534, 

Mark Mellon, Counsel, Legal Division, 

(202) 898–3884 or Patricia Colohan, 

Senior Examination Specialist, Division 

of Supervision and Consumer 

Protection, Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation, 550 17th Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20429. 

OTS: Stacy Messett, Senior Project 

Manager, Compliance and Consumer 

Protection, (202) 906–6241 or Richard 

Bennett, Senior Compliance Counsel, 

Regulations and Legislation Division, 

(202) 906–7409, Office of Thrift 

Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20552. 

NCUA: Ross Kendall, Staff Attorney, 

Office of General Counsel, (703) 518–

6540 or Matthew Biliouris, Program 

Officer, Office of Examination and 

Insurance, (703) 518–6360, National 

Credit Union Administration, 1775 

Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314–

3428. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Agencies developed this 

proposed guidance, Garnishment of 

Exempt Federal Benefits Funds, to 

address concerns associated with 

garnishment of exempt federal benefit 

payments, such as Social Security 

benefits, Supplemental Security Income 

benefits, Veterans’ benefits, Federal 

Civil Service retirement benefits, and 

Federal Railroad retirement benefits. 

These benefits, which are generally 

exempt under federal law from 

garnishment orders and the claims of 

judgment creditors, often constitute an 

important part, and sometimes all of an 

individual’s income. As a result, when 

financial institutions receive 

garnishment orders and place freezes on 

accounts containing exempt federal 

benefit funds, the recipients of these 

funds can face significant hardship. At 

the same time, financial institutions are 

required by state law to comply with 

garnishment orders, which may 

necessitate placing a freeze on an 

account that contains federal benefit 

payments. The agencies have developed 

this proposed guidance to encourage 

financial institutions to minimize the 

hardships encountered by federal 

benefit funds recipients and to do so 

while remaining in compliance with 

applicable law. 

II. Request for Comment 

The Agencies request comment on all 

aspects of the proposed guidance. In 

addition, the Agencies seek comment on 

the following issues: 

1. Are there practices that would 

enable an institution to avoid freezing 

funds altogether by determining at the 

time of receipt of a garnishment order 

that the funds are federally protected 

and not subject to an exception? 

2. Are there other permissible 

practices that would better serve the 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 188 / Friday, September 28, 2007 / Notices 55275 

1See 42 U.S.C. 407(a); 42 U.S.C. 1383(d)(1); 38 

U.S.C. 5301; 5 U.S.C. 8346(a); and 45 U.S.C. 

231m(a). 

2 42 U.S.C. 407. 

3 38 U.S.C. 5301. 

4 5 U.S.C. 8346. 

5See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. 659. 

interests of consumers who have 

accounts containing federal benefit 

payments? Are there ways to provide 

consumers with reasonable access to 

their funds during the garnishment 

process? 

3. Are customers adequately informed 

of their rights when a creditor attempts 

to garnish their funds? What could be 

done to provide consumers with better 

information? 

4. Institutions often charge customers 

a fee for freezing an account. How do 

these fees compare to those charged 

separately when an account holds 

insufficient funds to cover a check 

presented for payment? Are there 

operational justifications for both types 

of fees to be assessed? 

III. Text of Proposed Joint Guidance 

Garnishment of Exempt Federal Benefit 

Funds 

Social Security benefits, 

Supplemental Security Income benefits, 

Veterans’ benefits, Federal Civil Service 

retirement benefits, and Federal 

Railroad retirement benefits often 

constitute an important part, and 

sometimes all of an individual’s income. 

Consequently, federal law protects these 

benefit payments from garnishment 

orders and the claims of judgment 

creditors.1 For example, Section 207 of 

the Social Security Act provides that, 

with certain exceptions, moneys paid or 

payable as Old-Age, Survivors, and 

Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits 

are not ‘‘subject to execution, levy, 

attachment, garnishment, or other legal 

process.’’ 2 Similarly, Veterans’ benefits 

are exempt, in most cases, from 

‘‘attachment, levy, or seizure by or 

under any legal or equitable process 

whatever, either before or after receipt 

by the beneficiary’’ under a separate 

section of the United States Code.3

Federal Civil Service pension benefits 

are similarly protected under federal 

law.4 These federal provisions are 

subject to certain exceptions, such as 

garnishment orders relating to alimony 

or child support payments.5

The Social Security Administration 

(SSA) and Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA) have not to date specified 

rules outlining the scope of these 

protections. However, a number of court 

decisions have addressed aspects of 

these protections. This statement, issued 

by the Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System, Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation, Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency, Office of 

Thrift Supervision, and National Credit 

Union Administration (Agencies), 

represents guidance on best practices for 

financial institutions to protect 

consumers’ funds while remaining in 

compliance with state laws and court 

orders governing garnishment, 

attachment, and other legal process. 

Creditors and debt collectors are often 

able to obtain enforceable orders from 

state courts on an ex parte basis 

garnishing funds in a consumer’s 

account. To comply with state court 

garnishment orders, financial 

institutions often place a temporary 

freeze or hold on an account upon 

receipt of a garnishment order. 

Although the freeze will preserve the 

funds in the account and provide the 

account owner with an opportunity to 

assert any rights, exemptions, and 

challenges to the garnishment order, 

including the exemptions under 

applicable federal benefits laws, the 

freeze can also cause significant 

hardship for the account owner. This is 

especially true when, as is often the 

case, the recipients of federal benefits, 

such as SSA and VA benefits, depend 

on these funds as their primary source 

of income. 

At the same time, financial 

institutions are required by state law to 

comply with garnishment orders, and in 

many states, are liable for any funds that 

are withdrawn by a consumer after the 

financial institution has received a 

garnishment order for a particular 

account. State garnishment orders may 

not provide sufficient information to 

allow financial institutions to know if 

the order is subject to one of the 

exceptions in federal law allowing 

garnishment of federal benefit funds. 

Moreover, consumer accounts may 

include both funds that may be 

protected by federal law from 

garnishment and other funds that are 

not protected. 

The interplay of federal law and state 

garnishment laws raises difficult and 

complex issues. A freeze is designed to 

preserve the funds in an account until 

the legal status of the funds can be 

determined. The Agencies are aware, 

however, of the hardship that recipients 

of exempt federal benefit funds may face 

when a freeze is placed on their 

accounts. In order to minimize this 

hardship and ensure compliance with 

applicable law, the Agencies encourage 

financial institutions to have policies 

and procedures in place to address 

garnishment orders, including 

procedures designed to expedite notice 

to the consumer of the garnishment 

process and release funds to the 

consumer as quickly as possible. 

Among the best practices in this area 

are the following: 

• Promptly notify a consumer when a 

financial institution receives a 

garnishment order and places a freeze 

on the consumer’s account; 

• Provide the consumer with 

information about what types of federal 

benefit funds are exempt, including SSA 

and VA benefits, in order to aid the 

consumer in asserting federal 

protections; 

• Promptly determine, as feasible, if 

an account contains only exempt federal 

benefit funds such as SSA or VA 

benefits; 

• Notify the creditor, collection agent, 

or relevant state court that the account 

contains exempt funds in cases in 

which the financial institution is aware 

that the account contains exempt funds; 

• If state law or the court order will 

permit a freeze not to be imposed if the 

account is determined to contain only 

exempt federal benefit funds, act 

accordingly if that determination is 

made; 

• Minimize the cost to a consumer 

when the consumer’s account 

containing exempt federal benefit funds 

is frozen, such as by refraining from 

imposing overdraft, NSF, or similar fees 

while the account is frozen or refunding 

such fees when the freeze has been 

lifted; 

• Allow the consumer access to a 

portion of the account equivalent to the 

documented amount of exempt federal 

benefit funds as soon as the financial 

institution determines that none of the 

exceptions to the federal protections 

against garnishment of exempt federal 

benefit funds are triggered by the 

garnishment order; 

• Offer consumers segregated 

accounts that contain only federal 

benefit funds without commingling of 

other funds; and 

• Lift the freeze on an account as 

soon as permissible under state law. 

The Agencies encourage financial 

institutions to stay apprised of any 

future guidance issued by the SSA or 

VA regarding garnishment practices and 

of developments in the courts in their 

jurisdiction regarding garnishment 

practices. 

Dated: September 21, 2007. 

John C. Dugan, 

Comptroller of the Currency. 

By order of the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System, September 19, 2007. 

Jennifer J. Johnson, 

Secretary of the Board. 

Dated at Washington, DC, the 19th day of 

September, 2007. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
55276 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 188 / Friday, September 28, 2007 / Notices 

By order of the Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation. 

Robert E. Feldman, 

Executive Secretary. 

Dated: September 19, 2007. 

By the Office of Thrift Supervision. 

John Reich, 

Director. 

Dated: September 19, 2007. 

By the National Credit Union 

Administration. 

JoAnn M. Johnson, 

Chairman. 

[FR Doc. 07–4783 Filed 9–27–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–33–P; 6210–01–P; 6714–01–P; 

6720–01–P; 7535–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Reasonable Charges for Inpatient DRG 

and SNF Medical Services; 2008 Fiscal 

Year Update 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Title 38 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR), section 17.01 sets 

forth the Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA) medical regulations concerning 

‘‘reasonable charges’’ for medical care or 

services provided or furnished by VA to 

a veteran for: (1) A non-serviceconnected disability for which the 

veteran is entitled to care or the 

payment of expenses of care under a 

health plan contract; (2) a non-serviceconnected disability incurred incident 

to the veteran’s employment and 

covered under a worker’s compensation 

law or plan that provides 

reimbursement or indemnification for 

such care and services; or (3) a nonservice-connected disability incurred as 

a result of a motor vehicle accident in 

a State that requires automobile 

accident reparations insurance. 

The regulations include 

methodologies for establishing billed 

amounts for the following types of 

charges: acute inpatient facility charges; 

skilled nursing facility and sub-acute 

inpatient facility charges; partial 

hospitalization facility charges; 

outpatient facility charges; physician 

and other professional charges, 

including professional charges for 

anesthesia services and dental services; 

pathology and laboratory charges; 

observation care facility charges; 

ambulance and other emergency 

transportation charges; and charges for 

durable medical equipment, drugs, 

injectables, and other medical services, 

items, and supplies identified by 

Healthcare Common Procedure Coding 

System (HCPCS) Level II codes. The 

regulations also provide that data for 

calculating actual charge amounts at 

individual VA facilities based on these 

methodologies will either be published 

as a notice in the Federal Register or 

will be posted on the Internet site of the 

Veterans Health Administration Chief 

Business Office, currently at http:// 

www.va.gov/cbo, under ‘‘Charge Data.’’

Certain charges are hereby updated as 

described in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION Section of this notice. 

These changes are effective October 1, 

2007. 

In circumstances when charges for 

medical care or services provided or 

furnished at VA expense, by either VA 

or non-VA providers, have not been 

established under other provisions or 

regulations, the method for determining 

VA’s charges is set forth at 38 CFR 

17.101(a)(8). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Romona Greene, Chief Business Office 

(168), Veterans Health Administration, 

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 

Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 

20420, (202) 254–0361. (This is not a 

toll free number.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Of the 

charge types listed in the summary 

section of this notice, only the acute 

inpatient facility charges and skilled 

nursing facility and sub-acute inpatient 

facility charges are being changed. 

Charges for the following: partial 

hospitalization facility charges; 

outpatient facility charges; physician 

and other professional charges, 

including professional charges for 

anesthesia services and dental services; 

pathology and laboratory charges; 

observation care facility charges; 

ambulance and other emergency 

transportation charges; and charges for 

durable medical equipment, drugs, 

injectables, and other medical services, 

items, and supplies identified by 

HCPCS Level II codes are not being 

changed. These outpatient facility 

charges and professional charges remain 

the same as set forth in a notice 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 22, 2006 (71 FR 77096). 

Based on the methodologies set forth 

in 38 CFR 17.101(b), this document 

provides an update to acute inpatient 

charges that were based on 2007 

diagnosis related group (DRG). Acute 

inpatient facility charges by DRG are set 

forth in Table A in the September 28, 

2006, Federal Register Notice. VA is 

adopting the Medicare Severity DRG 

(MS-DRG) classification system as 

established by the Department of Health 

and Human Services, Centers for 

Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 

(see Final Rule with Comment Period as 

published in the Federal Register on 

August 22, 2007, Vol. 72, No.162 FR 

47130). Table A in this notice provides 

updated charges based on Fiscal Year 

2008 MS-DRGs and will replace Table A 

in the September 28, 2006, Federal 

Register Notice. 

Also, this document provides for an 

updated all-inclusive per diem charge 

for skilled nursing facility/sub-acute 

inpatient facility charge using the 

methodologies set forth in 38 CFR 

17.101(c) and it is adjusted by a 

geographic area factor based on the 

location where the care is provided. The 

skilled nursing facility/sub-acute 

inpatient facility per diem charge is set 

forth in Table B in the September 28, 

2006, Federal Register Notice. Table B 

in this Notice provides the updated allinclusive nationwide skilled nursing 

facility/sub-acute inpatient facility per 

diem charge and will replace Table B in 

the September 28, 2006 Notice. The 

charges in this update for acute 

inpatient facility and skilled nursing 

facility/sub-acute inpatient facility 

services are effective October 1, 2007. 

In this update, VA is retaining the 

table designations used for acute 

inpatient facility charges by DRGs in the 

notice published in the Federal Register 

on September 28, 2006 (71 FR 57028). 

VA is retaining the table designation 

used for skilled nursing facility/subacute inpatient facility charges in the 

notice published in the Federal Register 

on September 28, 2006. Accordingly, 

the tables identified as being updated by 

this Notice correspond to the applicable 

tables published in the September 28, 

2006, Federal Register Notice, 

beginning with Table A through Table 

B. 

VA has updated the list of data 

sources presented in Supplementary 

Table 1 to reflect the updated data 

sources used to establish the updated 

charges described in this Notice. 

The list of VA medical facility 

locations has also been updated. As a 

reminder, in Supplementary Table 3 

published in the Federal Register, dated 

December 22, 2006 (71 FR 77096), we 

set forth the list of VA medical facility 

locations, which includes the first threedigits of their zip codes and providerbased/non-provider-based designations. 

Consistent with VA’s regulations, the 

updated data tables and supplementary 

tables containing the changes described 

in this notice will be posted on the 

Internet site of the Veterans Health 

Administration Chief Business Office, 

currently at http://www.va.gov/cbo, 

under ‘‘Charge Data.’’


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES