[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32300-32301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-13006]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
[CMS-1620-N]
Medicare Program; Notification of Closure of Teaching Hospital
and Opportunity To Apply for Available Slots
AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces the closure of one teaching hospital and
the initiation of an application process for hospitals to apply to the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to receive Long Beach
Medical Center's full time equivalent (FTE) resident cap slots.
DATES: We will consider applications received no later than 5 p.m.
(e.s.t.) September 2, 2014. Applications must be received, not
postmarked, by this date.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Miechal Lefkowitz, (212) 616-2517.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 5506 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
(Pub. L. 111-148), as amended by the Health Care and Education
Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-152) (collectively, the
``Affordable Care Act''), ``Preservation of Resident Cap Positions from
Closed Hospitals,'' authorizes the Secretary of the Department of
Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to redistribute residency
slots after a hospital that trained residents in an approved medical
residency program closes. Specifically, section 5506 of the Affordable
Care Act amended the Social Security Act (the Act) by adding subsection
(vi) to section 1886(h)(4)(H) of the Act and modifying language at
section 1886(d)(5)(B)(v) of the Act, to instruct the Secretary to
establish a process to increase the full time equivalent (FTE) resident
caps for other hospitals based upon the FTE resident caps in teaching
hospitals that closed ``on or after a date that is 2 years before the
date of enactment'' (that is, March 23, 2008). In the November 24, 2010
CY 2011 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) final rule (75 FR
72212), we established regulations and an application process for
qualifying hospitals to apply to CMS to receive direct graduate medical
education (GME) and indirect medical education (IME) FTE resident cap
slots from the hospital that closed. We made certain modifications to
those regulations in the FY 2013 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment
System/Long Term Care Hospital final rule (FY 2013 IPPS/LTCH PPS final
rule (77 FR 53434 through 53447)). The procedures we established apply
both to teaching hospitals that closed on or after March 23, 2008 and
on or before August 3, 2010, and to teaching hospitals that closed
after August 3, 2010.
II. Provisions of the Notice
A. Notice of Closure of Teaching Hospital and Application Process
CMS has learned of the closure of one teaching hospital, Long Beach
Medical Center, of Long Beach, NY. The purpose of this notice is to
notify the public of the closure of this teaching hospital, and to
initiate another round of the application and selection process
described in section 5506 of the Affordable Care Act. This round will
be the seventh round (``Round 7'') of the application and selection
process. The table below identifies the closed teaching hospital, which
is part of the Round 7 application process under section 5506 of the
Affordable Care Act:
[[Page 32301]]
Teaching Hospital Closure
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IME cap
(including MMA Sec. (including MMA Sec. 422
adjustments) \2\ adjustments)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
330225.................... Long Beach Medical Long Beach, NY....... \1\ 35004 February 1, 2014.... 26.79 26.79 + 2.10 section
Center. 422 increase =
28.89.\3\
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The CBSA codes applicable to the Round 7 application process are those in effect for the FY 2014 IPPS, not the new CBSA codes proposed by CMS for
the FY 2015 IPPS in the FY 2015 IPPS proposed rule (79 FR 28055).
\2\ Section 422 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), Pub. L. 108-173, redistributed unused residency
slots effective July 1, 2005.
\3\ Long Beach Medical Center's 1996 direct GME FTE cap is 26.79. Under section 422 of the MMA, the hospital received an increase of 2.10 to its direct
GME FTE cap: 26.79 + 2.10 = 28.89. We note that under 42 CFR 413.77(g), direct GME FTE cap slots associated with an increase received under section
422 of the MMA are to be paid using the appropriate locality-adjusted national average per resident amount (PRA).
B. Application Process for Available Resident Slots
The application period for hospitals to apply for slots under
section 5506 is 90 days following notification to the public of a
hospital closure. Therefore, hospitals wishing to apply for and receive
slots from the above hospitals' FTE resident caps must submit
applications directly to the CMS Central Office no later than September
2, 2014. The mailing address for the CMS Central Office is included on
the application form. Applications must be received by the September 2,
2014 deadline date. It is not sufficient for applications to be
postmarked by this date. After an applying hospital sends a hard copy
of a section 5506 application to the CMS Central Office mailing
address, they must also send an email to:
[email protected]. In the email, the hospital should
state: ``On behalf of [insert hospital name and Medicare CMS
Certification Number], I am sending this email to notify CMS that I
have mailed to CMS a hard copy of a section 5506 application under
Round 7 due to the closure of Long Beach Medical Center.'' An applying
hospital should not attach an electronic copy of the application to the
email. The email will only serve as notification that a hard copy
application has been mailed to the CMS Central Office.
In the CY 2011 Outpatient Perspective Payment System/Ambulatory
Surgical Center (OPPS/ASC) final rule with comment period, we did not
establish a deadline by when CMS would issue the final determinations
to hospitals that receive slots under section 5506 of the Affordable
Care Act. However, we will review all applications received by the
deadline and notify applicants of our determinations as soon as
possible.
We refer readers to the CMS Web site at http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/AcuteInpatientPPS/dgme.html
to download a copy of the application form (section 5506 CMS
Application Form) that hospitals are to use to apply for slots under
section 5506 of the Affordable Care Act. We also refer readers to this
same Web site to access a copy of the CY 2011 OPPS/ASC final rule with
comment period, a copy of the FY 2013 Inpatient Perspective Payment
System Long Term Care Hospital (IPPS/LTCH) PPS final rule (77 FR 53434
through 53447), and a list of additional section 5506 guidelines for an
explanation of the policy and procedures for applying for slots, and
the redistribution of the slots under sections 1886(h)(4)(H)(vi) and
1886(d)(5)(B)(v) of the Act. (We note that in the FY 2015 IPPS proposed
rule (79 FR 28154 through 28161), CMS proposed additional changes to
the section 5506 application process. However, those proposed changes
do not apply to this Round 7 application process).
III. Collection of Information Requirements
This document does not impose any new information collection
requirements, that is, any reporting, recordkeeping or third-party
disclosure requirements, as defined under the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (5 CFR 1320). Furthermore, all information collection
requirements associated with the preservation of resident cap positions
from closed hospitals are not subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act,
as stated in section 5506 of the Affordable Care Act.
Dated: May 29, 2014.
Marilyn Tavenner,
Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
[FR Doc. 2014-13006 Filed 6-3-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P