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DOD/DODOASHA RIN: 0720-AB89 Publication ID: Fall 2023 
Title: ●TRICARE; Removal of Certain Temporary Regulation Changes Made in Response to COVID-19 
Abstract:

The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (ASD(HA)) is issuing this direct final rule to remove certain temporary regulation changes put in place in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that were automatically terminated by the end of the President’s national emergency and the associated Health and Human Services Public Health Emergency (PHE). Each temporary provision was previously finalized in a Final Rule that published on June 1, 2022 (87 FR 33001). Prior to publication of the Final Rule, the DoD assessed its authority to continue each flexibility and the appropriateness of doing so and determined the appropriate effective period and the date that each provision would end. ASD(HA) published a notice in the FR on June 12, 2023 (88 FR 38038) that the temporary provisions had terminated in both the U.S. and in overseas locations. Because the temporary nature and effective period of each provision had been finalized in a previous final rule, this direct final rule is necessary to remove these lapsed temporary provisions from the TRICARE regulation. The temporary flexibilities being removed are: a temporary waiver of the requirement for a three-day prior hospital stay before admission to a skilled nursing facility (32 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 199.4(b)(xiv)); a temporary waiver of certain acute care hospital requirements for temporary hospitals and freestanding ambulatory surgery centers during the COVID-19 pandemic (32 CFR 199.6(b)(4)(i)(I)); a temporary waiver of certain interstate and international licensing requirements for individual professional providers (32 CFR 199.6(c)(2)(i)); temporary adjustments to the diagnosis related group-based reimbursements for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 (32 CFR 199.14(a)(1)(iii)(E)(2)); temporary reimbursement of all long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) at the LTCH prospective payment system standard Federal rate (32 CFR 199.14(a)(9)(i)); and a temporary waiver of cost-shares and copayments associated with the use of telehealth services (32 CFR  199.17(l)(3)(iii)).

 
Agency: Department of Defense(DOD)  Priority: Substantive, Nonsignificant 
RIN Status: First time published in the Unified Agenda Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Final Rule Stage 
Major: No  Unfunded Mandates: No 
CFR Citation: 32 CFR 199   
Legal Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301    10 U.S.C. ch. 55   
Legal Deadline:  None
Timetable:
Action Date FR Cite
Direct Final Rule  03/00/2024 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: No  Government Levels Affected: None 
Small Entities Affected: No  Federalism: No 
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No 
RIN Data Printed in the FR: No 
Agency Contact:
Erica Ferron
Defense Health Agency, Medical Benefits and Reimbursement Division
Department of Defense
Office of Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs
16401 E Centretech Parkway,
Aurora, CO 80011-9066
Phone:303 676-3626
Email: erica.c.ferron.civ@health.mil