[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 23 (Thursday, February 4, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6009-6021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-02108]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

[CMS-9094-N]


Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Quarterly Listing of Program 
Issuances--October Through December 2015

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This quarterly notice lists CMS manual instructions, 
substantive and interpretive regulations, and other Federal Register 
notices that were published from July through September 2015, relating 
to the Medicare and Medicaid programs and other programs administered 
by CMS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: It is possible that an interested 
party may need specific information and not be able to determine from 
the listed information whether the issuance or regulation would fulfill 
that need. Consequently, we are providing contact persons to answer 
general questions concerning each of the addenda published in this 
notice.
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I. Background

    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is responsible 
for administering the Medicare and Medicaid programs and coordination 
and oversight of private health insurance. Administration and oversight 
of these programs involves the following: (1) Furnishing information to 
Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, health care providers, and the 
public; and (2) maintaining effective communications with CMS regional 
offices, state governments, state Medicaid agencies, state survey 
agencies, various providers of health care, all Medicare contractors 
that process claims and pay bills, National Association of Insurance 
Commissioners (NAIC), health insurers, and other stakeholders. To 
implement the various statutes on which the programs are based, we 
issue regulations under the authority granted to the Secretary of the 
Department of Health and Human Services under sections 1102, 1871, 
1902, and related provisions of the Social Security Act (the Act) and 
Public Health Service Act. We also issue various manuals, memoranda, 
and statements necessary to administer and oversee the programs 
efficiently.
    Section 1871(c) of the Act requires that we publish a list of all 
Medicare manual instructions, interpretive rules, statements of policy, 
and guidelines of general applicability not issued as regulations at 
least every 3 months in the Federal Register.

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II. Format for the Quarterly Issuance Notices

    This quarterly notice provides only the specific updates that have 
occurred in the 3-month period along with a hyperlink to the full 
listing that is available on the CMS Web site or the appropriate data 
registries that are used as our resources. This is the most current up-
to-date information and will be available earlier than we publish our 
quarterly notice. We believe the Web site list provides more timely 
access for beneficiaries, providers, and suppliers. We also believe the 
Web site offers a more convenient tool for the public to find the full 
list of qualified providers for these specific services and offers more 
flexibility and ``real time'' accessibility. In addition, many of the 
Web sites have listservs; that is, the public can subscribe and receive 
immediate notification of any updates to the Web site. These listservs 
avoid the need to check the Web site, as notification of updates is 
automatic and sent to the subscriber as they occur. If assessing a Web 
site proves to be difficult, the contact person listed can provide 
information.

III. How To Use the Notice

    This notice is organized into 15 addenda so that a reader may 
access the subjects published during the quarter covered by the notice 
to determine whether any are of particular interest. We expect this 
notice to be used in concert with previously published notices. Those 
unfamiliar with a description of our Medicare manuals should view the 
manuals at http://www.cms.gov/manuals.

    Dated January 28, 2016.
Kathleen Cantwell,
Director, Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs.
 BILLING CODE 4120-01-P

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[FR Doc. 2016-02108 Filed 2-3-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-C