68 FR 73 pgs. 18654-18656 - Medicare Program; Notice of Ambulance Fee Schedule in Accordance With Federal District Court Order
Type: NOTICEVolume: 68Number: 73Pages: 18654 - 18656
Docket number: [CMS-1256-N]
FR document: [FR Doc. 03-9503 Filed 4-15-03; 8:45 am]
Agency: Health and Human Services Department
Sub Agency: Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services
[CMS-1256-N]
RIN 0938-AM60
Medicare Program; Notice of Ambulance Fee Schedule in Accordance With Federal District Court Order
AGENCY:
Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.
ACTION:
Notice.
SUMMARY:
This notice announces the steps CMS is taking to comply with the Order in Lifestar Ambulance Service, Inc. v. United States, No. 4:02-CV-127-1 (M.D. Ga. Jan. 16, 2003) Medicare Covered Ambulance Services.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This notice is effective on April 16, 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Anne Tayloe, (410) 786-4546.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 4531 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) required the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a national fee schedule (FS) for payment of ambulance services through a negotiated rulemaking process. The statute provided that the Secretary phase in the application of payment rates under the FS in an efficient and fair manner and that the aggregate amount of payment for such services under the new FS not exceed the amount that would have been paid under the old system (42 U.S.C. § 1395m(l)(1), (2), (3)). The BBA provided that the FS would apply to services furnished on or after January 1, 2000.
The September 12, 2000 proposed rule (65 FR 55078) and the February 27, 2002 final rule (67 FR 9100) both provide for payment for ambulance services to be made in two parts: a base rate and a payment for mileage. Section 423 of the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA), which was passed after the publication of the proposed rule and prior to the promulgation of the final rule, provided that during the phase-in of the FS there would be full payment of any national mileage rate for ambulance services furnished by suppliers in States where the Medicare carrier did not previously pay separately for all mileage within the county from which the beneficiary is transported. Two States have been identified as qualifying under this provision: North Carolina and Tennessee. The BIPA states that this provision shall apply to services furnished on or after July 1, 2001.The FS was implemented on April 1, 2002 by the February 27, 2002 final rule. The final rule announced the 5-year phase-in that is based on a blend of a percentage of the payment based on the old payment system with a percentage of the payment based on the FS according to the following schedule:
| Calendar year | Percentage of old payment system | Percentage of fee schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 2002* | 80 | 20 |
| 2003 | 60 | 40 |
| 2004 | 40 | 60 |
| 2005 | 20 | 80 |
| 2006 | 0 | 100 |
| * April 1, 2002 through December 31, 2002 only. | ||
The full national FS mileage rate in those States that qualify for section 423 of the BIPA (North Carolina and Tennessee) has been paid as of April 1, 2002.
In Lifestar Ambulance Service, Inc. v. United States, No. 4:02-CV-127-1 (M.D. Ga. Jan 16, 2003), three ambulance suppliers seeking to represent a nationwide class of ambulance suppliers sued the Secretary, arguing that he has no discretion to give the FS an effective date other than January 1, 2000. The district court agreed with the plaintiff suppliers and issued an order certifying a nationwide class of ambulance suppliers and requiring the Secretary to adopt a FS for the January 1, 2000 through March 31, 2002 period. The court's decision also requires the Secretary to pay full mileage in accordance with the BIPA provision for the July 1, 2001 through March 31, 2002 period. Id. at 20-21.
II. Provisions of the Notice
The purpose of this notice is to comply with the court's order requiring a FS to be established for the January 1, 2000 through March 31, 2002 period. By this notice, the Secretary is establishing a FS based on the FS as described in the February 27, 2002 final rule, with a modified phase-in as follows:
| Calendar year | Percentage of old payment system | Percentage of fee schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 2000* | 95 | 5 |
| 2001 | 90 | 10 |
| 2002 | 80 | 20 |
| * January 1, 2002 through March 31, 2002. | ||
Additionally, in accordance with the district court's order, the Medicare program will pay full BIPA mileage for services provided on or after July 1, 2001.
The BBA provided that the Secretary shall phase in the application of payment rates under the FS in an efficient and fair manner. As previously detailed, based on the discretion afforded the Secretary by the BBA, the final rule published on February 27, 2002 provided for a linear progression from the prior payment system to FS payments, commencing with a 20 percent/80 percent blended payment for the last three quarters of FY 2002, and ending with a 100 percent FS payment for FY 2006.
Five percent, 10 percent, and 20 percent is the most appropriate progression of blending percentages for the January 1, 2000 through March 31, 2002 period. For the first quarter of 2002, 20 percent is the same blending percentage as the percentage already used for the FS during the other 9 months in 2002. The 5 percent and 10 percent are the most appropriate percentages for 2000 and 2001, in that they comply with the statutory requirement for an efficient and fair phase-in, and are consistent with the linear progression in blending percentages promulgated in the February 27, 2002 final rule.
The Lifestar court recognized the Secretary's statutory discretion to set the phase-in percentages for the January 1, 2000 through March 31, 2002 period. The court also stated that these phase-in percentages must provide meaningful relief to the Lifestar plaintiffs. The FS described in this notice provides meaningful relief as evidenced in more detail under the impact section, below. We estimate that 2/3 of 15,000 suppliers will be receiving a total of $81 million for this period.
The statute at 42 U.S.C. 1395(m)(l)(3)(B) provides that FS payment amounts in subsequent years to the first year of the FS be set equal to the FS payment amounts from the previous year increased by a statutorily prescribed inflation factor. The FS final rule used data from 1998 and inflated it using the statutorily prescribed inflation factors to obtain the 2002 amounts. See 67 FR 9100, 9125. To determine the FS amounts for earlier years (that is, the period of January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2001), we have deflated the FS amounts for 2002 by the same statutorily prescribed ambulance inflation factors. These deflation factors are:
| Calendar year | Deflation percentage |
|---|---|
| 2000/2001 | 3.7 |
| 2001/2002 | 2.2 |
III. Appeal of Lifestar Decision/Recoupment
The Secretary has appealed the Lifestar decision. In the event the district court's decision is reversed on appeal, any FS or BIPA mileage payment made in accordance with this notice for the January 1, 2000 through March 31, 2002 period will be subject to recoupment.
IV. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking
We ordinarily publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register and invite public comment on the proposed rule. The notice of proposed rulemaking includes a reference to the legal authority under which the rule is proposed, and the terms and substances of the proposed rule or a description of the subjects and issues involved. This procedure can be waived, however, if an agency finds good cause that a notice-and-comment procedure is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest and incorporates a statement of the finding and its reasons in the rule issued.
The court's January 16, 2003 order in Lifestar requires establishment of a FS for the January 1, 2000 through March 31, 2002 period within 90-days of the date of the order. It would be impracticable to provide a period for prior notice and comment and still meet the 90-day deadline. In fact, the Congress has recognized the impracticability of providing prior notice and comment where a statutory provision must be implemented within 150 days. See 42 U.S.C. 1395hh(b)(2)(B) (providing that a notice of proposed rulemaking is not required if a statute establishes a specific deadline for implementation that is less than 150 days from enactment).
Therefore, we find good cause to waive the notice of proposed rulemaking and comment period with respect to the issuance of this notice.
V. Collection of Information Requirements
This document does not impose information collection and recordkeeping requirements. Consequently, it need not be reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget under the authority of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 35).
VI. Regulatory Impact Statement
We have examined the impacts of this notice as required by Executive Order 12866 (September 1993, Regulatory Planning and Review), the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (September 16, 1980, Pub. L. 96-354), section 1102(b) of the Social Security Act, the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4), and Executive Order 13132.
There are approximately 15,000 suppliers nationwide that submit claims to Medicare for ambulance services. The Medicare program pays approximately $2.1 billion in Medicare benefits per year for these services. We estimate that approximately two-thirds of suppliers will benefit from this January 1, 2000 through March 31, 2002 FS and that the aggregate amount of program spending will be approximately $81 million. The break out of this expenditure is as follows:
| Calendar year | Program expenditures (in millions) |
|---|---|
| 2000 | $16 |
| 2001 | $43 |
| 2002 | $22 |
| Total | $81 |
These amounts include approximately $16 million by which suppliers in North Carolina and Tennessee will benefit due to implementation of the BIPA ambulance mileage provision for the period of July 1, 2001 through March 31, 2002.
Executive Order 12866 directs agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). A regulatory impact analysis (RIA) must be prepared for major rules with economically significant effects ($100 million or more in any 1 year). The aggregate amount of program spending to comply with the court's order will be approximately $81 million. Therefore this notice is not a major notice as defined in Title 5, United States Code, section 804(2) and is not an economically significant notice under Executive Order 12866.
The RFA requires agencies to analyze options for regulatory relief of small entities. For purposes of the RFA, small entities include small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. Most hospitals and most other providers and suppliers are small entities, either by nonprofit status or by having revenues of $6 million to $29 million in any 1 year. Individuals and States are not considered to be small entities. We have determined that this notice will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Therefore, we are not preparing an analysis for the RFA.
In addition, section 1102(b) of the Act requires us to prepare a regulatory impact analysis if a rule may have a significant impact on the operations of a substantial number of small rural hospitals. This analysis must conform to the provisions of section 604 of the RFA. For purposes of section 1102(b) of the Act, we define a small rural hospital as a hospital that is located outside of a Metropolitan Statistical Area and has fewer than 100 beds. We have determined that this notice will not have a significant effect on the operations of a substantial number of small rural hospitals. Therefore, we are not preparing an analysis for section 1102(b) of the Act.
Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 also requires that agencies assess anticipated costs and benefits before issuing any rule that may result in expenditures in any 1 year by State, local, or tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $110 million. This notice has no consequential effect on State, local, or tribal governments or on the private sector.
Executive Order 13132 establishes certain requirements that an agency must meet when it promulgates a rule that imposes substantial direct requirement costs on State and local governments, preempts State law, or otherwise has Federalism implications. This notice will not have a substantial effect on State or local governments.
In accordance with the provisions of Executive Order 12866, this regulation was reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
Authority:
Sections 1102 and 1871 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1302 and 1395hh).
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 93.774, Medicare-Supplementary Medical Insurance Program)
Dated: April 1, 2003.
Thomas A. Scully,
Administrator, Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services.
Dated: April 11, 2003.
Tommy G. Thompson,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-9503 Filed 4-15-03; 8:45 am]
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