Sanford V. Teplitzky
410-347-7364
teplitzky@ober.com

In the first quarter of 2001, the Department of Health and Human Services and its component agencies announced a number of changes to regulation effective dates and comment period deadlines. Below is a list of some of these changes and the e-mail addresses of Ober|Kaler health law attorneys to contact for more information.

Several of these announcements were made in response to a January 20 memorandum from Andrew Card, Assistant to the President. Card’s memo required department and agency heads to withdraw or delay the effective dates of certain regulations until the Bush Administration could review them. An official copy of the Card memorandum was published under "White House Office" in the January 24, 2001 Federal Register.

You can download each Federal Register notice listed below from the Internet by selecting the appropriate Federal Register date at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/frcont01.html. Scroll down to "Health Care Financing Administration" unless otherwise noted in the table below.

Regulation Governing	Effective Date & Comment Period Notices	Ober|Kaler Contact
Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (For Fed. Reg. Notices, Scroll Down to “Health and Human Services Department”)	4/12/01 DHHS Press Release Confirms Effective Date 4/14/01 (Most covered entities are required to begin compliance 2 years after effective date.) 2/28/01 Fed. Reg. Notice Provides for Additional Comment Period Ending 3/30/01 2/26/01 Fed. Reg. Notice Delays Effective Date from 2/26/01 until 4/14/01	Jim Wieland
Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Physicians’ Referrals to Health Care Entities With Which they Have Financial Relationships	4/4/01 Fed. Reg. Notice Extends Comment Period Deadline from 4/4/01 until 6/4/01 2/2/01 Fed. Reg. Notice Delays Effective Date of Changes to Certain Home Health Regulations from 2/5/01 to 4/6/01	Sandy Teplitzky Craig Holden Bill Mathias
Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Hospital Conditions of Participation: Anesthesia Services	3/19/01 Fed. Reg. Notice Delays Effective Date from 3/19/01 until 5/18/01	Leslie Goldsmith
Medicare Program; Expanded coverage for Outpatient Diabetes Self-Management Training and Diabetes Outcome Measurements	3/14/01 Fed. Reg. Notice Confirms Effective Date of 2/27/01	Bill Mathias
Medicare Program: Payment for Nursing and Allied Health Education	3/12/01 Fed. Reg. Notice Delays Effective Date from 3/13/01 to 5/14/01

Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver

Maryland
120 East Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Telephone 410-685-1120, Fax 410-547-0699

Washington, D.C.
1401 H Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005
Telephone 202-408-8400, Fax 202-408-0640

Virginia
407 North Washington Street, Suite 105, Falls Church, VA 22046
Telephone 703-237-0126, Fax 202-408-0640