Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 4, 2017 / Proposed Rules 46181 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–3302–WN] 

42 CFR Part 416, 418, 482, 483, and 485 

Medicare and Medicaid Programs; 

Revisions to Certain Patient’s Rights 

Conditions for Participation and 

Conditions for Coverage; Withdrawal 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. 

ACTION: Withdrawal of proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This document withdraws a 

proposed rule that was published in the 

Federal Register on December 12, 2014. 

This proposed rule would revise the 

applicable conditions of participation 

for certain providers, conditions for 

coverage for certain suppliers, and 

requirements for long-term care 

facilities, to ensure that the 

requirements are consistent with the 

Supreme Court decision in United 

States v. Windsor (570 U.S.12, 133 S. Ct. 

2675 (2013)), and HHS policy. 

Specifically, it proposed to revise 

certain definitions and patient’s rights 

provisions that currently defer to state 

law, in order to ensure that same-sex 

spouses are recognized and afforded 

equal rights in certain Medicare and 

Medicaid-participating facilities. 

DATES: As of October 4, 2017, the 

proposed rule published December 12, 

2014, at 79 FR 73873, is withdrawn. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ronisha Blackstone, 410–786–6882. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

December 12, 2014, we published a 

proposed rule in the Federal Register 

entitled, ‘‘Medicare and Medicaid 

Program; Revisions to Certain Patient’s 

Rights Conditions of Participation and 

Conditions for Coverage’’ (79 FR 73873). 

In United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S.12, 

133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013), the Supreme 

Court held that section 3 of the Defense 

of Marriage Act (DOMA) was 

unconstitutional because it violated the 

Fifth Amendment (See Windsor, 133 S. 

Ct. 2675, 2695). Section 3 of DOMA 

provided that in determining the 

meaning of any Act of the Congress, or 

of any ruling, regulation, or 

interpretation of the various 

administrative bureaus and agencies of 

the United States, the word ‘‘marriage’’ 

meant only a legal union between one 

man and one woman as husband and 

wife, and the word ‘‘spouse’’ could refer 

only to a person of the opposite sex who 

was a husband or a wife (1 U.S.C. 7). 

Following the Supreme Court’s opinion 

in Windsor, the Federal government was 

permitted to recognize the validity of 

same-sex marriages when administering 

Federal statutes and programs. 

The December 2014 rulemaking 

proposed to revise certain conditions of 

participation (CoPs), conditions for 

coverage (CfCs), and requirements for 

certain Medicare- and Medicaidparticipating facilities to ensure that the 

requirements at issue were consistent 

with the Windsor decision. We received 

97 public comments in response to the 

December 2014 proposed rule. 

Following publication of the proposed 

rule, on June 26, 2015 in Obergefell v. 

Hodges, (135 S. Ct. 2584 (2015)), the 

Supreme Court held that the Due 

Process and Equal Protection clauses of 

the Fourteenth Amendment requires a 

state to license a marriage between two 

people of the same sex, and to recognize 

same-sex marriages lawfully performed 

in other States. In light of the Obergefell 

decision, we have decided to withdraw 

the December 2014 proposed rule. We 

believe that the Obergefell decision has 

addressed many of the concerns raised 

in the December 2014 proposed rule. 

Accordingly, the proposed rule 

published December 12, 2014, at 79 FR 

73873, is withdrawn. 

Dated: August 24, 2017. 

Seema Verma, 

Administrator, Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services. 

Approved: September 7, 2017. 

Thomas E. Price, 

Secretary, Department of Health and Human 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2017–21419 Filed 10–3–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

42 CFR Part 424 

[CMS–6012–WN] 

RIN 0938–AR84 

Medicare Program; Establishment of 

Special Payment Provisions and 

Requirements for Qualified 

Practitioners and Qualified Suppliers 

of Prosthetics and Custom-Fabricated 

Orthotics; Withdrawal 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. 

ACTION: Withdrawal of proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This document withdraws a 

proposed rule that was published in the 

Federal Register on January 12, 2017. 

The proposed rule specified the 

qualifications needed for qualified 

practitioners to furnish and fabricate, 

and qualified suppliers to fabricate 

prosthetics and custom-fabricated 

orthotics; accreditation requirements 

that qualified suppliers must meet in 

order to bill for prosthetics and custom 

fabricated orthotics; requirements that 

an organization must meet in order to 

accredit qualified suppliers to bill for 

prosthetics and custom-fabricated 

orthotics; and a timeframe by which 

qualified practitioners and qualified 

suppliers must meet the applicable 

licensure, certification, and 

accreditation requirements. In addition, 

the proposed rule removed the current 

exemption from accreditation and 

quality standards for certain 

practitioners and suppliers. 

DATES: As of October 4, 2017, the 

proposed rule published January 12, 

2017, at 82 FR 3678, is withdrawn. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

Spiegel, (410) 786–1909. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

January 12, 2017 Federal Register (82 

FR 3678), we published a proposed rule 

titled, ‘‘Medicare Program; 

Establishment of Special Payment 

Provisions and Requirements for 

Qualified Practitioners and Qualified 

Suppliers of Prosthetics and Custom 

Fabricated Orthotics’’ to ensure that 

only those who are qualified to do so 

can furnish, fabricate, and bill for the 

prosthetics and custom-fabricated 

orthotics addressed by the proposed 

rule. 

We received over 5,000 public 

comments in response to the January 12, 

2017 proposed rule. 

In light of the cost and time burdens 

that the proposed rule would create for 

many providers and suppliers, 

particularly the cost and burden for 

those providers and suppliers that are 

small businesses, and the complexity of 

the issues raised in the detailed public 

comments received, we are withdrawing 

the January 12, 2017 proposed rule in 

order to assure agency flexibility in reexamining the issues and exploring 

options and alternatives with 

stakeholders. 

Accordingly, the proposed rule 

published January 12, 2017, at 82 FR 

3678, is withdrawn. 


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