63398 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 2014 / Notices 

Summary reports, status reports, 

reports of the Office of Inspector 

General, and reports of actions taken 

pursuant to authority delegated by the 

Board of Directors. 

Discussion Agenda 

Memorandum and resolution re: Final 

Rule: Credit Risk Retention. 

Briefing re: Update of Projected 

Deposit Insurance Fund Losses, Income, 

and Reserve Ratios for the Restoration 

Plan. 

In calling the meeting, the Board 

determined, on motion of Vice 

Chairman Thomas M. Hoenig, seconded 

by Director Richard Cordray (Director, 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), 

concurred in by Director Thomas J. 

Curry (Comptroller of the Currency), 

Director Jeremiah O. Norton 

(Appointive), and Chairman Martin J. 

Gruenberg, that Corporation business 

required its consideration of the matters 

on less than seven days’ notice to the 

public; and that no earlier notice of the 

meeting than that previously provided 

on October 16, 2014, was practicable. 

The meeting was held in the Board 

Room temporarily located on the fourth 

floor of the FDIC Building located at 550 

17th Street NW., Washington, DC. 

Dated: October 21, 2014. 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 

Robert E. Feldman, 

Executive Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25340 Filed 10–21–14; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6714–01–P 

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH 

REVIEW COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Notice: Cancellation of 

Meeting Notice 

October 20, 2014. 

The following Commission meeting 

has been cancelled. No earlier 

announcement of the cancellation was 

possible. 

TIME AND DATE: 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, 

October 22, 2014. 

PLACE: The Richard V. Backley Hearing 

Room, Room 511N, 1331 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20004 

(entry from F Street entrance). 

STATUS: Open. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: The 

Commission will consider and act upon 

the following in open session: Secretary 

of Labor v. DQ Fire and Explosion 

Consultants, Docket Nos. WEVA 2011– 

952–R, et al. (Issues include whether the 

Administrative Law Judge erred in 

ruling that the violation of the order in 

question was the result of high 

negligence.). 

Any person attending this meeting 

who requires special accessibility 

features and/or auxiliary aids, such as 

sign language interpreters, must inform 

the Commission in advance of those 

needs. Subject to 29 CFR 2706.150(a)(3) 

and 2706.160(d). 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

Emogene Johnson (202) 434–9935/(202) 

708–9300 for TDD Relay/1–800–877– 

8339 for toll free. 

Emogene Johnson, 

Administrative Assistant. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25379 Filed 10–21–14; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6735–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Medicare Program; Appellant Forum 

Regarding the Administrative Law 

Judge Hearing Program for Medicare 

Claim Appeals 

AGENCY: Office of Medicare Hearings 

and Appeals (OMHA), HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of Meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

second Office of Medicare Hearings and 

Appeals (OMHA) Medicare Appellant 

Forum. The purpose of this event is to 

provide updates to OMHA appellants on 

the status of OMHA operations and to 

relay information on a number of 

OMHA and CMS initiatives designed to 

reduce the backlog in the processing of 

Medicare appeals at the OMHA level 

and lower levels of the administrative 

appeals process. 

DATES: 

Meeting Date: The OMHA Medicare 

Appellant Forum announced in this 

notice will be held on Wednesday, 

October 29, 2014. 

The OMHA Medicare Appellant 

Forum will begin at 10:00 a.m. Eastern 

Standard Time (EST) and check-in will 

begin at 9:00 a.m. EST. It is anticipated 

the Forum will last until 3:00 p.m. EST. 

Deadline for Registration of Attendees 

and Requests for Special 

Accommodation: The deadline to 

register to attend the OMHA Medicare 

Appellant Forum and request a special 

accommodation, as provided for in the 

American’s with Disabilities Act, is 5:00 

p.m. EST, Friday, October 24, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Meeting Location: The 

OMHA Medicare Appellant Forum will 

be held in the Cohen Auditorium of the 

Wilbur J. Cohen building located at 330 

Independence Ave. SW., Washington, 

DC 20024. 

A toll-free phone line and/or 

webcasting will be provided. 

Information on these options will be 

posted at a later date on the OMHA Web 

site; http://www.hhs.gov/omha/

index.html. 

Registration and Special 

Accommodations: Individuals wishing 

to attend the OMHA Medicare 

Appellant Forum must register by 

following the on-line registration 

instructions located in section III of this 

notice or by contacting staff listed in the 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section of this notice. Individuals who 

need special accommodations should 

contact staff listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

notice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rene ́e Johnson, (703) 235–8269, 

renee.johnson@hhs.gov. Alternatively, 

you may forward your requests via 

email to OSOMHAAppellantForum@

hhs.gov; please indicate ‘‘Request for 

information’’ or ‘‘Request for special 

accommodation’’ in the subject line. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Office of Medicare Hearings and 

Appeals (OMHA), a staff division within 

the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS), administers the 

nationwide Administrative Law Judge 

hearing program for Medicare claim, 

organization and coverage 

determination, and entitlement appeals 

under sections 1869, 1155, 

1876(c)(5)(B), 1852(g)(5), and 1860D– 

4(h) of the Social Security Act. OMHA 

ensures that Medicare beneficiaries and 

the providers and suppliers that furnish 

items or services to Medicare 

beneficiaries, as well as Medicare 

Advantage Organizations (MAOs) and 

Medicaid State Agencies, have a fair and 

impartial forum to address 

disagreements with Medicare coverage 

and payment determinations made by 

Medicare contractors, MAOs, or Part D 

Plan Sponsors (PDPSs), and 

determinations related to Medicare 

eligibility and entitlement, and incomerelated premium surcharges made by 

the Social Security Administration 

(SSA). 

The Medicare claim appeal process 

consists of four levels of administrative 

review within HHS, and a fifth level of 

review with the Federal courts after 

administrative remedies within HHS 

have been exhausted. The first two 

levels of review are administered by the 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services (CMS) and conducted by 

Medicare contractors for Part A and Part 

B claim appeals, by MAOs and an 

independent review entity for Part C 

organization determination appeals, or 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 2014 / Notices 63399 

by PDPSs and an independent review 

entity Part D coverage determination 

appeals. The third level of review is 

administered by OMHA and conducted 

by Administrative Law Judges. The 

fourth level of review is administered by 

the HHS Departmental Appeals Board 

(DAB) and conducted by the Medicare 

Appeals Council. In addition, OMHA 

and the DAB administer the second and 

third levels of appeal, respectively, for 

Medicare eligibility, entitlement and 

premium surcharge reconsiderations 

made by SSA; a fourth level of review 

with the Federal courts is available after 

administrative remedies within HHS 

have been exhausted. 

The Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP 

Benefits Improvement and Protection 

Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106–554), which 

added section 1869(d)(1)(A) of the 

Social Security Act, provides for an 

Administrative Law Judge to conduct a 

hearing and render a decision within 90 

days of a timely filed request for 

hearing. Section 1869(d)(3) of the Social 

Security Act states that, if an ALJ does 

not render a decision by the end of the 

specified timeframe, the appellant may 

request review by the Departmental 

Appeals Board. Likewise, if the 

Departmental Appeals Board does not 

render a decision by the end of the 

specified timeframe, the appellant may 

seek judicial review. OMHA was 

established in July 2005 pursuant to 

section 931 of the Medicare Prescription 

Drug, Improvement, and Modernization 

Act of 2003 (Pub. L. 108–173), which 

required the transfer of responsibility 

for the Administrative Law Judge 

hearing level of the Medicare claim and 

entitlement appeals process from SSA to 

HHS. OMHA was expected to improve 

service to appellants and reduce the 

average 368-day waiting time for a 

hearing decision that appellants 

experienced with SSA. 

OMHA serves a broad sector of the 

public, including Medicare providers, 

suppliers, and MAOs, and Medicare 

beneficiaries, who are often elderly or 

disabled and among the nation’s most 

vulnerable populations. OMHA 

currently administers its program in five 

field offices, including the Southern 

Field Office in Miami, Florida; the 

Midwestern Field Office in Cleveland, 

Ohio; the Western Field Office in Irvine, 

California; the Mid-Atlantic Field Office 

in Arlington, Virginia; and the recently 

established field office in Kansas City, 

Missouri. OMHA uses videoteleconferencing (VTC), telephone 

conferencing, and in-person formats to 

provide appellants with hearings. 

At the time OMHA was established, it 

was envisioned that OMHA would 

receive the claim and entitlement 

appeals workload from the Medicare 

Part A and Part B programs, and 

organization determination appeals 

from the Medicare Advantage (Part C) 

program, as well as coverage 

determination appeals from the 

Medicare Prescription Drug (Part D) 

program and appeals of Income Related 

Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) 

premium surcharges assessed by SSA. 

With this mix of work at the expected 

levels, OMHA was able to meet the 90- 

day adjudication time frame. 

However, in recent years, OMHA has 

experienced a significant and sustained 

increase in appeals workload that has 

compromised its ability to meet the 90- 

day adjudication time frame. In addition 

to the expanding Medicare beneficiary 

population and increased utilization of 

services across that population, the 

increase in appeals workload has 

resulted from a number of changes in 

the Medicare claim review and appeals 

processes in recent years, including: 

• Medicaid State Agency (MSA) 

appeals of Medicare coverage denials for 

beneficiaries dually enrolled in both 

Medicare and Medicaid. These appeals 

were previously addressed through a 

demonstration project that employed an 

alternative dispute resolution process to 

determine whether the Medicare or 

Medicaid program would pay for care 

furnished to the dually enrolled 

beneficiaries. The demonstration project 

ended in 2010, and the MSA appeals 

entered the standard administrative 

appeals process, increasing appeals 

workloads throughout the Medicare 

claim appeal process, including at 

OMHA. 

• The Fee-for-Service Recovery Audit 

(RA) program (also known as the 

Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) 

program), which was made permanent 

by section 302 of the Tax Relief and 

Health Care Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109– 

432). Appeals from the RA program 

began to enter the administrative 

appeals process at the CMS contractor 

levels in fiscal year 2011. In fiscal year 

2012, OMHA began receiving hearing 

requests arising from the RA program 

that exceeded projections. 

• CMS has implemented a number of 

changes to enhance its monitoring of 

payment accuracy in the Medicare Part 

A and Part B programs, which have 

increased denial rates and likely 

contributed to increased appeals. For 

example, based on recommendations 

from the HHS Office of Inspector 

General (OIG), in 2009, CMS tightened 

its methodologies related to how it 

calculates the Medicare payment error 

rate, with a view towards improving 

provider claims documentation and 

compliance with Medicare’s billing, 

coverage, and medical necessity 

requirements. In addition, Medicare 

Administrative Contractors (MACs) 

initiated a series of focused medical 

review initiatives, which increased the 

overall number of denied claims. CMS 

also initiated efforts to eliminate 

payment error and fraud based on 

Executive Order 13520 and the 

Improper Payments Elimination and 

Recovery Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111–204), 

resulting in additional denied claims 

and the identification of overpayments. 

With the increase in overall claim 

denials, the administrative appeals 

process has experienced an overall 

increase in appeal requests. At OMHA, 

the greater than anticipated workload 

increase resulted in a backlog of appeals 

(that is, appeals that cannot be heard 

and decided within the adjudication 

time frame) starting in fiscal year 2012, 

with a 42% increase from fiscal year 

2011 in the number of claims appealed 

to OMHA. In fiscal year 2013, the 

number of claims appealed to OMHA 

more than doubled from fiscal year 

2012, with a 123% increase, further 

contributing to the backlog of cases and 

resulting in a substantial increase in the 

adjudication time frame. The increase in 

appealed claims from the RA program 

was particularly high in fiscal year 

2013, with a 506% increase in appealed 

RA program claims over fiscal year 

2012, versus a 77% increase in appealed 

claims not related to the RA program 

during that same period of time. 

In 2013, CMS issued an Administrator 

Ruling (published on March 18, 2013, 

78 FR 16614) and finalized new rules 

(published on August 19, 2013, 78 FR 

50495) designed to clarify criteria for 

new (fiscal year 2014) Medicare Part A 

inpatient hospital admissions, which 

comprised the disputed issues in a 

majority of RA program appeals, and to 

clarify policies at issue in appeals of 

inpatient claim denials under the 

existing rules. In addition, CMS 

expanded the scope of alternative Part B 

services that could be billed if a Part A 

inpatient admission was denied and, as 

part of the ruling, for a limited time 

allowed hospitals to submit Part B 

claims for those services beyond the 

one-year claim filing deadline. 

Separately, CMS also suspended most 

RA program audits of Part A inpatient 

hospital admissions under the new 

inpatient admission criteria (commonly 

referred to as the two-midnight rule), 

which was effective for inpatient claims 

with admission dates on and after 

October 1, 2013, in order to offer 

providers time to become educated on 

the two-midnight rule. The suspension 

of audits for new admissions was 

extended for claims with dates of 

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63400 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 2014 / Notices 

admission through March 31, 2015, 

pursuant to section 111 of the Protecting 

Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 

113–93). CMS is also making 

improvements to the RA program that 

are designed to increase the accuracy of 

Recovery Audit determinations and to 

reduce the burden on providers as well 

as the number of payment denials that 

providers and suppliers appeal. 

OMHA also took measures to mitigate 

the effects of the workload increase at 

the Administrative Law Judge level. One 

of the immediate measures taken was to 

ensure that the comparatively small 

numbers of beneficiary-initiated appeals 

were prioritized. For the remaining 

cases, OMHA has deferred assignments 

of new requests for hearing until an 

adjudicator becomes available, which 

allows appeals to be assigned more 

efficiently on a first in/first out basis as 

an Administrative Law Judge’s case 

docket is able to accommodate 

additional workload. Nevertheless, 

OMHA Administrative Law Judges 

continue to conduct hearings on their 

pending workloads and have nearly 

doubled their productivity from Fiscal 

Year 2009 to Fiscal Year 2013. 

On February 12, 2014, OMHA hosted 

a Medicare Appellant Forum (see 

OMHA’s Notice of Meeting, published 

on January 3, 2014, 79 FR 393). The 

Medicare Appellant Forum was 

conducted to provide the appellant 

community with an update on the status 

of OMHA operations; relay information 

on a number of OMHA initiatives 

designed to mitigate the backlog in the 

processing of Medicare appeals at the 

Administrative Law Judge level; and 

provide information on measures that 

appellants could take to make the 

administrative appeals process work 

more efficiently at the Administrative 

Law Judge level. In addition, CMS and 

the DAB participated in the forum and 

shared information on operations at 

their respective appeals levels. As 

conveyed at the Medicare Appellant 

Forum, HHS is committed to addressing 

the challenges facing the Medicare 

claim and entitlement appeals process, 

and is continuing to explore potential 

initiatives to address the workload 

increase and reduce the backlog of 

appeals. 

Since the Medicare Appellant Forum, 

OMHA has implemented two pilot 

programs to provide appellants with 

meaningful options to address claims 

pending at the Administrative Law 

Judge level of appeal, in addition to the 

existing right to escalate a request for 

hearing when the adjudication time 

frame is not met. OMHA is providing 

appellants with an option to use 

statistical sampling during the 

Administrative Law Judge hearing 

process, which enables appellants to 

obtain a decision on large numbers of 

appealed claims based on a sampling of 

those claims. OMHA is also providing 

appellants with an option for settlement 

conference facilitation, which provides 

appellants with an independent OMHA 

facilitator to discuss potential 

settlement of claims with authorized 

settlement officials through an alternate 

dispute resolution process. Additional 

information on these two pilots can be 

found on OMHA’s Web site, http://

www.hhs.gov/omha. 

OMHA also continues to pursue new 

case processing efficiencies and an 

electronic case adjudication processing 

environment (ECAPE) to bring further 

efficiencies to the appeals process. 

In addition to these initiatives, on 

August 29, 2014, CMS announced that 

for claims denied based on 

inappropriate inpatient status for dates 

of admission prior to October 1, 2013, 

CMS is offering an administrative 

agreement to acute care hospitals and 

critical access hospitals willing to 

withdraw pending appeals in exchange 

for partial payment (68 percent) of the 

denied inpatient claim (for details 

regarding the option, see http://go.cms.

gov/InpatientHospitalReview). In the 

CMS Ruling 1455–R (published March 

18, 2013) and the Fiscal Year 2014 

Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment 

System Final Rule (published August 

22, 2013), CMS clarified the inpatient 

admission policy for Medicare Part A 

payment and permitted hospitals to 

rebill an expanded scope of medically 

necessary Part B services under Part B. 

For appeals involving a date of 

admission prior to October 1, 2013, the 

hospitals are permitted to rebill under 

Part B after they have ended or 

exhausted their Part A inpatient 

appeals. However, only a limited 

number of hospitals have participated in 

the rebilling option. This new CMS 

administrative agreement option is an 

alternative to that rebilling process, and, 

for those hospitals that elect this option, 

alleviates the administrative burden of 

current appeals on both the provider 

and Medicare. 

The first OMHA Medicare Appellant 

Forum, held in February 2014, focused 

on informing the appellant community 

of the extent of the current workload 

challenges and potential initiatives to 

address those challenges. This second 

OMHA Medicare Appellant Forum will 

address new initiatives, OMHA 

processes and procedures to achieve 

meaningful backlog reduction strategies 

and process efficiencies, and current 

workload status. 

II. Medicare Claim Appeal Appellant 

Forum and Conference Calling/Webinar 

Information 

A. Format of the OMHA Medicare 

Appellant Forum 

As noted in section I of this notice, 

OMHA is conducting this outreach to 

appellants in the Medicare claim 

appeals process to provide updates on 

initiatives to mitigate a backlog in 

processing Medicare appeals at the 

OMHA level. Information regarding the 

OMHA Medicare Appellant Forum can 

be found on the OMHA Web site at: 

http://www.hhs.gov/omha/index.html. 

The majority of the forum will be 

reserved for presentations about OMHA 

and CMS initiatives, a presentation from 

the HHS Departmental Appeals Board, 

and processes and policy presentations. 

The time for each presentation will be 

approximately 30 to 60 minutes and 

will be based on the material being 

addressed in the presentation. 

Questions and comments from inperson attendees will be solicited at the 

end of each planned session specific to 

the presentation, and during a separate 

question and answer session as time 

permits. In addition, questions related 

to the OMHA level of the Medicare 

claim appeals process will also be 

accepted on an attendee’s registration 

for potential response during the 

appropriate presentation. 

B. Conference Call, Live Streaming, and 

Webinar Information 

For participants who cannot attend 

the OMHA Medicare Appellant Forum 

in person, there will be the option to 

attend via teleconference and there may 

be an option to view the conference via 

webcasting. Information on the 

availability of these capabilities will be 

posted on the OMHA Web site at: http:// 

www.hhs.gov/omha/index.html. Please 

continue to check the Web site for 

updates on this upcoming event. 

Disclaimer: We cannot guarantee 

reliability of webcasting. 

III. Registration Instructions 

The OMHA Headquarters Office is 

coordinating attendee registration for 

the OMHA Medicare Appellant Forum. 

While there is no registration fee, 

individuals planning to attend the 

forum must register to attend. In-person 

participation is limited to two (2) 

representatives from each organization. 

Additional individuals may participate 

by telephone conference or, if available, 

by webcasting. Information on 

participation by telephone conference or 

webcasting will be posted on the OMHA 

Web site at: http://www.hhs.gov/omha/

index.html. Registration may be 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 2014 / Notices 63401 

completed online at the following web 

address: http://www.hhs.gov/omha/

index.html. Seating capacity for inperson attendees is limited to the first 

400 registrants. 

After completing the registration, 

online registrants will receive a 

confirmation email which they should 

bring with them to the meeting. If 

unable to register online, please register 

by sending an email to 

OSOMHAAppellantForum@hhs.gov. 

Please include first and last name, title, 

organization, address, office telephone 

number, and email address. If seating 

capacity has been reached, a notification 

will be sent that the meeting has 

reached capacity. 

IV. Security, Building, and Parking 

Guidelines 

Because the OMHA Medicare 

Appellant Forum will be conducted on 

Federal property, for security reasons, 

any persons wishing to attend these 

meetings must register by the date 

specified in the DATES section of this 

notice. Please allow sufficient time to go 

through the security checkpoints. It is 

suggested that you arrive at the Wilbur 

J. Cohen building, located at 330 

Independence Ave. SW., Washington, 

DC 20024, no later than 9:30 a.m. EST 

if you are attending the forum in person. 

Security measures include the 

following: 

• Present of photographic 

identification to the Federal Protective 

Service or Guard Service personnel. 

• Passing through a metal detector 

and inspection of items brought into the 

building. We note that all items brought 

to the Cohen Building, whether personal 

or for the purpose of demonstration or 

to support a demonstration, are subject 

to inspection. We cannot assume 

responsibility for coordinating the 

receipt, transfer, transport, storage, setup, safety, or timely arrival of any 

personal belongings or items used for 

demonstration or to support a 

demonstration. 

Note: Individuals who are not registered in 

advance will not be permitted to enter the 

building and will be unable to attend the 

forum in person. 

Attendees must enter the Cohen 

Building thru the C Street entrance and 

proceed to the registration desk. All 

visitors must be escorted in areas other 

than the auditorium area and access to 

the restrooms on the same level in the 

building. Seating capacity is limited to 

the first 400 registrants. 

Parking in Federal buildings is not 

available for this event. In addition, 

street side and commercial parking is 

extremely limited in the downtown 

area. Attendees are advised to use 

Metro-rail to either the Federal Center 

SW station (Blue/Orange line) or the 

L’Enfant Plaza station (Yellow/Green or 

Blue/Orange lines). The Wilbur J. Cohen 

building is approximately 11⁄2 blocks 

from each of these Metro-rail stops. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program No. 93.770, Medicare—Prescription 

Drug Coverage; Program No. 93.773, 

Medicare—Hospital Insurance; and Program 

No. 93.774, Medicare—Supplementary 

Medical Insurance Program) 

Dated: October 9, 2014. 

Nancy J. Griswold, 

Chief Administrative Law Judge, Office of 

Medicare Hearings and Appeals. 

[FR Doc. 2014–24637 Filed 10–22–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–46–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Renewal of Charters for Certain 

Federal Advisory Committees 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Health, Office of the 

Secretary, Department of Health and 

Human Services. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: As stipulated by the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 

U.S.C. App), the U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services (HHS) is 

hereby announcing that the charters 

have been renewed for the following 

federal advisory committees for which 

the Office of the Assistant Secretary for 

Health provides management support: 

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory 

Committee (CFSAC); President’s 

Council on Fitness, Sports, and 

Nutrition (PCFSN); Secretary’s Advisory 

Committee on Human Research 

Protections (SACHRP); and Advisory 

Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety 

and Availability (ACBTSA). 

Functioning as federal advisory 

committees, these committees are 

governed by the provisions of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA). Under FACA, it is stipulated 

that the charter for a federal advisory 

committee must be renewed every two 

years in order for the committee to 

continue to operate. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Olga 

B. Nelson, Committee Management 

Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary 

for Health; U.S. Department of Health 

and Human Services; 200 Independence 

Avenue SW., Room 714B; Washington, 

DC 20201; (202) 690–5205. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CFSAC 

was established on September 5, 2002 as 

a discretionary federal advisory 

committee. The Committee provides 

science-based advice and 

recommendations to the Secretary of 

Health and Human Services, through 

the Assistant Secretary for Health, on 

abroad range of issues and topics 

pertaining to myalgic 

encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue 

syndrome (ME/CFS), including (1) the 

current state of knowledge and research 

and the relevant gaps in knowledge and 

research about the epidemiology, 

etiologies, biomarkers, and risk factors 

relating to ME/CFS, and identifying 

potential opportunities in these areas; 

(2) impact and implications of current 

and proposed diagnosis and treatment 

methods for ME/CFS; (3) development 

and implementation of programs to 

inform the public, health care 

professionals, and the biomedical, 

academic, and research communities 

about ME/CFS advances; and (4) 

partnering to improve the quality of life 

of ME/CFS patients. 

There was one amendment proposed 

and approved for the new charter. The 

charter has been amended to change all 

references to chronic fatigue syndrome 

(CFS) to include the myalgic 

encephalomyelitis (ME). This 

amendment to the charter was proposed 

to satisfy a recommendation previously 

made by CFSAC. During the October 

2010 meeting, the Committee had 

recommended that the Department 

should ‘‘adopt [use of] the term ME/CFS 

across all HHS programs. After the 

recommendation was made, the 

Committee elected to use ME/CFS when 

discussing this health condition. 

Amending the charter to reflect the use 

of ME/CFS demonstrates that the 

Department supports the Committee’s 

recommendation. 

On September 5, 2014, the Secretary 

of Health and Human Services approved 

for the CFSAC charter with the 

proposed amendment to be renewed. 

The new charter has been made 

effective; the charter was filed with the 

appropriate Congressional committees 

and the Library of Congress on 

September 5, 2014. Renewal of the 

CFSAC charter provides authorization 

for the Committee to continue to operate 

until September 5, 2016. A copy of the 

Committee charter is available on the 

CFSAC Web site at http://www.hhs.gov/ 

advcomcfs. 

The PCFSN is a non-discretionary 

federal advisory committee. The PCFSN 

was established under Executive Order 

13545, dated June 22, 2010. This 

authorizing directive was issued to 

amend the purpose, function, and name 

of the Council, which formerly operated 

as the President’s Council on Physical 

Fitness and Sports (PCPFS). The scope 

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