Medicare program; schedule of limits on home health agency costs per visit for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1992--HCFA. Notice with comment period

This notice sets forth a revised schedule of limits on home health agency costs that may be paid under the Medicare program. This revised schedule of limits applies to cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1992. As required by section 4207(d)(3)(B) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-508), this revised schedule of limits incorporates a blended hospital wage index.     

Medicare program; schedule of limits on home health agency costs per visit for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1991--HCFA. Notice with comment period

This notice sets forth a revised schedule of limits on home health agency costs that may be paid under the Medicare program. This revised schedule of limits applies to cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1991. As required by section 4207(d) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-508), this revised schedule of limits incorporates a blended hospital wage index.     

Medicare program; schedule of limits on home health agency costs per visit for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1997--HCFA. Notice with comment period

This notice sets fort a revised schedule of limits on home health agency costs that may be paid under the Medicare program for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1997. These limits replace the per visit limits that were set forth in our July 1, 1996 notice with comment period (61 FR 34344). This notice also responds to comments on the July 1, 1996 notice.     

Medicare program; schedule of limits on home health agency costs per visit for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1993--HCFA. Notice with comment period

This notice sets forth a revised schedule of limits on home health agency costs that may be paid under the Medicare program. As required by section 1861(v)(1)(L)(iii) of the Social Security Act (the Act), these limits are based on the current hospital wage index.     

Medicare program; schedule of limits on home health agency costs per visit for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1997--HCFA. Notice with comment period

This notice sets forth a revised schedule of limits on home health agency costs that may be paid under the Medicare program for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1997. These limits replace the per visit limits that were set forth in our July 1, 1996 notice with comment period (61 FR 34344) and supersede those set forth in our July 1, 1997 notice with comment period (61 FR 35608). This notice also provides, in accordance with the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, that there be no changes in the home health per visit limits for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1997 and before October 1, 1997 (that is, the cost limits set forth in our July 1, 1996 notice will apply to cost reporting periods beginning during this time period); that the establishment of the cost per visit limitations for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1997 be based on 105 percent of the median of the labor-related and nonlabor per visit costs for freestanding home health agencies; that there be no updates in the home health costs limits (including no adjustments for changes in the wage index or other updates) for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1994 and before July 1, 1996; and the wage index value that is applied to the labor portion of the per visit limitations be based on the geographic area in which the home health service is furnished.     

Medicare program; schedule of limits on home health agency costs per visit for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1992; correction--HCFA. Notice with comment period; correction

In the July 1, 1992 issue of the Federal Register (FR Doc. 92-15496) (57 FR 29410), we published a notice with comment period that set forth a revised schedule of limits on home health agency costs that may be paid under the Medicare program. The July 1, 1992 notice applies to cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1992. This notice corrects errors made in the July 1, 1992 document.     

Medicare program; schedule of per-beneficiary limitations on home health agency costs for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1997--HCFA. Final rule with comment period

This final rule with comment period sets forth, in accordance with section 4602 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, a new schedule of limitations on home health agency costs that may be paid under the Medicare program for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1997. These limitations are in addition to the per-visit limitations that were set forth in our January 2, 1998 notice with comment period.     

Medicare program; schedules of per-visit and per-beneficiary limitations on home health agency costs for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1998--HCFA. Notice with comment period

This notice with comment period sets forth revised schedules of limitations on home health agency costs that may be paid under the Medicare program for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1998. These limitations replace the limitations that were set forth in our January 2, 1998 notice with comment period (63 FR 89) and our March 31, 1998 final rule with comment period (63 FR 15718).     

Medicare program; schedule of limits on home health agency costs per visit--HCFA. Notice with comment period

This notice with comment period sets forth a revised schedule of limits on home health agency costs that may be paid under the Medicare program for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1993. These limits replace the per-visit limits that were set forth in our July 8, 1993 notice with comment period (58 FR 36748). This notice also provides, in accordance with the provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA '93), that there will be no changes in the home health agency (HHA) cost limits for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1994, and before July 1, 1996. In addition, this notice responds to public comments on the July 8, 1993 notice with comment period, which originally set forth the HHA cost limits for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1993, and on the January 6, 1994 notice with comment period (59 FR 760), which announced the elimination of the hospital based add-on effective for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1993.     

Medicare program; schedules of per-visit and per-beneficiary limitations on home health agency costs for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1998; correction--HCFA. Correction of notice with comment period

In the August 11, 1998 issue of the Federal Register (63 FR 42912), we published a notice with comment period setting forth revised schedules of limitations on home health agency costs that may be paid under the Medicare program for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1998. This document corrects technical and typographical errors made in that document.     

Medicare program; special payment limits for home blood glucose monitors--HCFA. Final notice

This notice establishes special payment limits for standard home blood glucose monitors, identified as code E0607 of the HCFA Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS). This final notice is intended to prevent excessive payment for these items. Currently, payment under the Medicare program for home blood glucose monitors and other items of durable medical equipment (DME) is equal to 80 percent of the lesser of the actual charge for the item or the fee schedule amount for the item. This notice requires that payment for standard home blood glucose monitors be equal to 80 percent of the lesser of the actual charge or a special payment limit.     

Medicare program; fee schedule for physicians' services for calendar year 1993--HCFA. Final notice with comment period

This final notice with comment period announces the final relative value units (RVUs) for Medicare payment for existing procedure codes under the physician fee schedule and interim RVUs for new and revised codes. Section 6102(a) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989, as amended by section 4118 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, requires establishment of the physician fee schedule and periodic review and adjustment of the RVUs.     

Medicare program; electronic cost reporting for skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies--HCFA. Final rule

This final rule adds the requirement that, for cost reporting periods ending on or after February 1, 1997, most skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies must submit cost reports currently required under the Medicare regulations in a standardized electronic format. This rule also allows a delay or waiver of this requirement where implementation would result in financial hardship for a provider. The provisions of this rule allow for more accurate preparation and more efficient processing of cost reports.     

Medicare program; withdrawal of coverage of certain investigational intraocular lenses.--HCFA. Final notice

This notice announces the withdrawal of Medicare coverage for certain investigational intraocular lenses (IOLs). Medicare coverage of IOLs that have received approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will continue to be covered by Medicare, as well as certain other IOLs that are awaiting FDA approval.     

Medicare program; schedule of limits for skilled nursing facility inpatient routine service costs--HCFA. Final notice with comment period

This final notice with comment period sets forth an updated schedule of limits on skilled nursing facility inpatient routine service costs for which payment may be made under the Medicare program.     

Medicare program; schedule of limits for skilled nursing facility inpatient routine service costs--HCFA. Final notice with comment period

This final notice with comment period sets forth an updated schedule of limits on skilled nursing facility routine service costs for which payment may be made under the Medicare program. Section 1888(a) of the Social Security Act requires that for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1992, and every two years thereafter, the Secretary update the per diem cost limits for skilled nursing facility routine service costs.     

Medicare program; physician fee schedule conversion factor for calendar year 1998 and sustainable growth rate for fiscal year 1998--HCFA. Final notice

This final notice announces the calendar year 1998 Medicare physician fee schedule conversion factor and the fiscal year 1998 sustainable growth rate for expenditures for physicians' services under the Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance (Part B) program as required by sections 1846(d) and (f), respectively, of the Social Security Act. The 1998 Medicare physician fee schedule conversion factor is $36,6873. The sustainable growth rate for fiscal year 1998 is 1.5 percent.     

Medicare program; elimination of additional payments for administrative and general costs of hospital-based home health agencies--HCFA. Final notice with comment period

In accordance with section 13564(b)(1) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, this final notice with comment period provides that the payment add-on for the administrative and general costs of hospital-based home health agencies (HHAs) is eliminated. This notice also explains the effects of this provision on the methodology used in calculating the HHA cost limits.     

Medicare program; uniform electronic cost reporting system for hospitals--HCFA. Final rule

This final rule responds to comments on the May 25, 1994, final rule with comment period that implemented a standardized electronic cost reporting system for all hospitals under the Medicare program. In that rule, we solicited comments on the requirement that cost reporting software be able to detect changes made to the electronic file after the provider has submitted it to the fiscal intermediary. This final rule responds to comments on that requirement and clarifies that although changes to the "as-filed" electronic cost report are prohibited, an intermediary makes a working copy of the as-filed electronic cost report for use in the settlement process.