The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its semiannual regulatory agenda on June 9. The agenda outlines the status of regulations currently under development and provides timelines for the agency’s actions on pending and new rules. The June 9 agenda highlights current activity by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as well as the Food and Drug Administration.  Of particular note:

• Comments are due June 27, 2016, on CMS’s notice of proposed rulemaking “Merit-Based Incentive Payment System and Alternative Payment Models in Medicare Fee-For Service,” published at 81 Fed. Reg. 28161.  The proposed rule would implement provisions of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which repealed the long-standing Medicare sustainable growth rate used for determining Medicare payments for healthcare provider services.

• CMS expects to publish the final rule “Reform Requirements for Long-Term Care Facilities” in September 2016.  The final rule will revise the requirements that long-term care facilities must meet in order to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The comment period on the proposed rule ended October 14, 2015.

The full regulatory agenda can be found here.