Federal Register updates via the Rural Assistance Center
Sun Jan 24 11:55:12 EST 2010
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Rural Utilities Service; Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households Program; Proposed Rule; Comment Request - Comments are being requested by the Rural Utilities Service on a proposed rule issuing a regulation to establish the Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households (SEARCH) Program.

Notice of Federal Property Suitable as Facilities to Assist the Homeless - This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.

Rural Utilities Service; Broadband Initiatives Program; Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and Solicitation of Applications - The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announces its general policy and application procedures for the second round of funding for the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) which provides loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in rural areas.

National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA); Broadband Technology Opportunities Program; Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and Solicitation of Applications - In this notice, NTIA announces general policy and grant application procedures for the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) that provides grants for deploying broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas of the United States.

National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services; Notice of Meeting - This notice from the Health Resources and Services Administration announces a public meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services to be held on February 17-19, 2010, in Washington, D.C.

2009 HHS Poverty Guidelines Extended Until March 1, 2010 - This notice from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), advises that (HHS) poverty guidelines will remain in effect until updated 2010 poverty guidelines are published, which shall not take place before March 1, 2010.

Comment Request: Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program, Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers, Employer Practices Related to Employment Outcomes Among Individuals With Disabilities - This notice from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research proposes a priority and request for comments for Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers on Employer Practices Related to Employment Outcomes Among Individuals with Disabilities.

Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology; Interim Final Rule; Comment Request - The Department of Health and Human Services is issuing this interim final rule with a request for comments to adopt an initial set of standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria to adopting standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria to enhance the interoperability, functionality, utility, and security of health information technology and to support its meaningful use.

Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program; Proposed Rule - This proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would implement the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) that provide incentive payments to eligible professionals andeligible hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs thatadopt and meaningfully use certified electronic health record technology.

FY 2010 Special Diabetes Program for Indians Community-Directed Grant Program; Notice of Funding Opportunity - The Indian Health Service (IHS) is accepting grant applications for the FY 2010 Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) Community-Directed grant program, open to all existing SDPI grantees that have an active grant in place and are in compliance with the previous terms and conditions of the grant.

Indian Health Professions Preparatory, Indian Health Professions Pregraduate and Indian Health Professions Scholarship Programs; Notice of Availability of Funding - The Indian Health Service announces the availability of approximately $14.0 million to fund scholarships for the Indian Health Professions Preparatory, Indian Health Professions Pregraduate and Indian Health Professions Scholarship Programs for FY 2010.

National Advisory Council on Migrant Health; Notice of Meeting - This notice announces a public meeting of the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health, to be held February 10-11, 2010, in Seattle, Washington.

Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 Section 1013: Request for Nominations--The Effective Health Care Stakeholder Group - The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) invites nominations from interested organizations and knowledgeable individuals for members of the Stakeholder Group to support the work of the Effective Health Care Program, to develop evidence on the effectiveness and comparative effectiveness of different treatments and health care interventions of importance to the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Child Health Insurance programs.

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Standards Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings - This notice announces forthcoming subcommittee meetings of a federal advisory committee of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) that will be open to the public via dial-in access only.

Health Resources and Services Administration; Statement of Organization, Functions and Delegations of Authority - This notice amends Part R of the Statement of Organization, Functions and Delegations of Authority of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) (60 FR 56605, as amended November 6, 1995; as last amended at 74 FR 48089-48090 dated September 21, 2009).

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings - This notice announces forthcoming public subcommittee meetings, available via webcast, of a federal advisory committee of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting - This notice announces a forthcoming meeting of a public advisory committee of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), to be held January 20, 2010, in Washington, D.C.

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting - This notice announces a forthcoming meeting of a public advisory committee of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), to be held January 13, 2010, in Washington, D.C.

Medicare Program: Changes to the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and CY 2010 Payment Rates; Changes to the Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System and CY 2010 Payment Rates; Final Rule - This document from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services corrects technical errors that appeared in the final rule with comment period found in the Federal Register (FR) on November 20, 2009, entitled "Medicare Program: Changes to the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and CY 2010 Payment Rates; Changes to the Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System and CY 2010 Payment Rates."

Department of Health & Human Services; Solicitation of New Safe Harbors and Special Fraud Alerts; Notice of Intent to Develop Regulations - In accordance with section 205 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, this annual notice solicits proposals and recommendations for developing new and modifying existing safe harbor provisions under the Federal anti-kickback statute (section 1128B(b) of the Social Security Act), as well as developing new OIG Special Fraud Alerts.

Proposed Notice of Funds Available (NOFA) for Social Innovation Fund Awards; Request for Feedback - This draft Notice of Funds Available (NOFA) from the Corporation for National and Community Service announces the availability of funding and requests feedback for the newly created Social Innovation Fund (SIF), authorized by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009.

Medicaid and CHIP Programs; Initial Core Set of Children's Healthcare Quality Measures for Voluntary Use by Medicaid and CHIP Programs; Notice With Comment Period - This notice identifies and solicits public comments on the initial, recommended core set of children's health care quality measures for voluntary use by State programs administered under titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act, health insurance issuers and managed care entities that enter into contracts with Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs, and providers of items and services under these programs.

Notice; Department of Veterans Affairs; Reasonable Charges for Medical Care or Services; 2010 Calendar Year Update - This Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) notice informs the public of updated data for calculating the "reasonable charges" collected or recovered by VA for medical care or services provided or furnished by VA to a veteran.

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology HIT Policy Committee's NHIN Workgroup Meeting; Notice of Meeting - This notice announces a forthcoming public subcommittee meeting of a federal advisory committee of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to be held via webcast January 7, 2010.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Statement of Organization, Functions, and Delegations of Authority - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the Department of Health and Human Services announces in this notice the organizational units that are deleted in their entirety.

Notice of Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Minority Health - The Advisory Committee on Minority Health will hold a public meeting January 5-6, 2010 at the Doubletree Hotel in Washington, DC.

Health Resources and Services Administration; Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP); Data Collection Tool for State Offices of Rural Health Grant Program - The Health Resources and Services Administration proposes to revise the State Offices of Rural Health Grant Program--Guidance and Forms for the Application. ORHP seeks to expand the information gathered from grantees on their efforts to provide technical assistance to clients within their State.

Notice of Deadline for Submitting Completed Applications to Begin Participation in the Tribal Self-Governance Program in Fiscal Year 2011 or Calendar Year 2011 - In this notice, the Office of Self-Governance (OSG) establishes a March 1, 2010, deadline for Indian tribes/consortia to submit completed applications to begin participation in the tribal self-governance program in fiscal year 2011 or calendar year 2011.

Department of Veterans Affairs; Specially Adapted Housing and Special Home Adaptation; Proposed Rule - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its adjudication regulations regarding specially adapted housing and special home adaptation grants.

Indian Health Service Contract Health Services Report; Proposed Information Collection - The IHS Contract Health Services Program needs this information to certify that the health care services requested and authorized by the IHS have been performed by the Contract Health Services provider(s); to have providers validate services provided; to process payments for health care services performed by such providers; and to serve as a legal document for health and medical care authorized by IHS and rendered by health care providers under contract with the IHS.