The renal community will have to wait another year to see the published final rule of the Conditions of Coverage for End-Stage Renal Disease Facilities.
On Feb. 4, 2005, CMS said it would start work on a new set of certification requirements for Medicare coverage of dialysis clinics. The revisions would reflect advances in dialysis technology and new standard care practices that have emerged since the last time the rules were revised in their entirety in 1976.
The new rule was set for publication today, but CMS said it wasn’t able to meet the deadline for publication because of the rule’s complexity and the large amount of public comment.
“We received a large volume of timely comments on the proposed rule,” CMS announced in the Feb. 5 Federal Register. “The commenters presented extremely complex and detailed policy and legal issues, which require extensive consultation, review and analysis.”
In addition, CMS said the new rule’s development would require the extensive collaboration of other government agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies under the Department of Health and Human Services.
The final rule is set to update and revise policies regarding infection control, water and dialysate quality, dialyzer re-use, home dialysis, and anemia management, according to CMS.
The new Conditions of Coverage are now set to be released on Feb. 4, 2009.
