Medicare program; changes to the hospital inpatient prospective payment systems and fiscal year 2004 rates. Final rule

We are revising the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) for operating and capital costs to implement changes arising from our continuing experience with these systems. In addition, in the Addendum to this final rule, we are describing changes to the amounts and factors used to determine the rates for Medicare hospital inpatient services for operating costs and capital-related costs. These changes are applicable to discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2003. We also are setting forth rate-of-increase limits as well as policy changes for hospitals and hospital units excluded from the IPPS that are paid on a cost basis subject to these limits. Among other changes that we are making are: changes to the classification of cases to the diagnosis-related groups (DRGS); changes to the long-term care (LTC)-DRGs and relative weights; the introduction of updated wage data used to compute the wage index; the approval of new technologies for add-on payments; changes to the policies governing postacute care transfers; payments to hospitals for the direct and indirect costs of graduate medical education; pass-through payments for nursing and allied health education programs; determination of hospital beds and patient days for payment adjustment purposes; and payments to critical access hospitals (CAHs).     

Food labeling: health claims; soluble dietary fiber from certain foods and coronary heart disease. Final rule

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is adopting as a final rule, without change, the provisions of the interim final rule that amended the regulation authorizing a health claim on the relationship between beta-glucan soluble fiber from whole oat sources and reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). FDA is taking this action to complete the rulemaking initiated with the interim final rule.     

Medicare,Medicaid, and CLIA programs; laboratory requirements relating to quality systems and certain personnel qualifications. Final rule

This final rule revises and responds to comments on certain laboratory requirements issued pursuant to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA), Pub. L. 100-578. Specifically, this final rule sets forth requirements for certain quality control (QC) provisions and personnel qualifications; consolidates and reorganizes the requirements for patient test management, QC, and quality assurance; and changes the consensus required for grading proficiency testing challenges. To ensure a smooth transition to the new provisions for directors of high complexity testing who are not board certified (but who have doctoral degrees), we will not be holding facilities out of compliance with the provisions of the rule concerning directors who are not board certified until the effective date of this new rule, to the extent the facilities are otherwise in compliance with the requirements for laboratory directors.     

Medicare and Medicaid programs; fire safety requirements for certain health care facilities. Final rule

This final rule amends the fire safety standards for hospitals, long-term care facilities, intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded, ambulatory surgery centers, hospices that provide inpatient services, religious nonmedical health care institutions, critical access hospitals, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly facilities. Further, this final rule adopts the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code and eliminates references in our regulations to all earlier editions.     

International Conference on Harmonisation; guidance on electronic common technical document specification; availability. Notice

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of a guidance entitled "M2 eCTD: Electronic Common Technical Document Specification." The guidance was prepared under the auspices of the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH). The guidance defines the means for industry-to-agency transfer of regulatory information that will facilitate the creation, review, life cycle management, and archiving of the electronic submission. The guidance is intended to assist industry in transferring electronically their marketing applications for human drug and biological products to a regulatory authority.     

Health insurance reform: security standards. Final rule

This final rule adopts standards for the security of electronic protected health information to be implemented by health plans, health care clearinghouses, and certain health care providers. The use of the security standards will improve the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and other Federal health programs and private health programs, and the effectiveness and efficiency of the health care industry in general by establishing a level of protection for certain electronic health information. This final rule implements some of the requirements of the Administrative Simplification subtitle of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).     

苏联法影响中国法制发展进程之回顾

在 2 0世纪中国历史上 ,苏联的革命法制理论和若干重要制度曾深刻地影响了中国的法制发展进程。孙中山曾主张“以俄为师”并进行过法制改革 ;中国共产党所领导下的人民民主政权的法制建设也是以苏联为标尺 ;新中国成立初期在创立社会主义法制的过程中 ,更是将苏联法全方位地移植到了中国。苏联法制为中国革命政党所接受与其自身的性质和中国革命的需要紧密相关。     

中国传统法研究中的几个问题

一个多世纪以来 ,传统法在中国常常被视为法治的绊脚石而受到责难。这种旷日持久的责难形成了种种偏见。比如在中西法的比较中习惯以西方法的理论、模式为标准来割裂传统法的有机组成 ;在论述传统法内容时局限于刑 ,而基本排斥了最具特色的“礼” ;过分强调法发展的一般规律 ,而忽视了不同文化背景下法所具有的特殊性。因此 ,在批判传统法的同时 ,我们需要反省对传统法的态度、反省研究中所持的标准、反省研究的方法 ,以求更准确、更合理地解读中国传统法     

About the Authors

Biography

About the Authors     

Introduction to special issue on ‘professional insecurities’

Introduction

Introduction to special issue on professional insecurities