2026-14709: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2027; and Basic Health Program; Correction

Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 138 (Tuesday, July 21, 2026) [Federal Register Volume 91, Number 138 (Tuesday, July 21, 2026)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 45647-45649] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2026-14709] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 42 CFR Part 600 Office of the Secretary 45 CFR Parts 150, 155, and 156 [CMS-9883-CN2] RIN 0938-AV62 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2027; and Basic Health Program; Correction

Agency

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Action

Final rule; correction. -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary

This document corrects typographical errors in the final rule that appeared in the May 20, 2026, Federal Register titled ``Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2027; and Basic Health Program.''

Dates

This correction is effective July 20, 2026.

For Further Information Contact

Jeff Wu, (301) 492-4305, Rogelyn McLean, (410) 786-1524, Grace Bristol, (410) 786-8437, for general information. [[Page 45648]]

Supplementary Information

I. Background

In FR Doc. 2026-10050 of May 20, 2026 (91 FR 29526) (2027 Payment Notice), there were typographical errors, technical drafting errors, and omissions that are identified and corrected in this document.

III. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking and Delay in Effective Date

We ordinarily publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register and invite public comment on the proposed rule in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(b) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Each notice of proposed rulemaking includes a reference to the legal authority under which the rule is proposed and the terms and substance of the proposed rule, or a description of the subjects and issues involved. Per APA section 553(b)(B), these procedures can be waived if an agency finds good cause that notice-and-comment procedure is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and incorporates a statement of the finding and the reasons therefore in the rule issued. Section 553(d)(3) of the APA allows an agency to avoid the 30-day delay in effective date when the agency finds good cause, and includes in the rule a statement of the finding and the reasons for it. This document does not constitute a proposed rule subject to the notice-and-comment or delayed effective date requirements under sections 553(b) and (d) of the APA, because this correcting document merely corrects typographical and technical drafting errors and omissions in the final rule. Regardless, even if this correcting document was deemed to be a proposed rule to which the notice-and- comment procedures and delayed effective date requirements applied, there is good cause to waive the requirements as following the notice- and-comment procedures and delayed effective date requirements under section 553(b) and (d) of the APA would be unnecessary and contrary to the public interest. The corrections this document makes to the preamble of the final rule corrects a typographical error (91 FR 29800). In the final rule, we stated that these regulations are effective on July 20, 2026 (91 FR 29526). However, later in the final rule, we made an erroneous, more general, statement that the rule takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register (which would be on June 19, 2026) (91 FR 29800). Because this document simply removes that later language from the final rule that provides an incorrect effective date, and because the final rule also contains the correct effective date, which interested parties were given notice and the opportunity to comment on, additional notice and comment on this change is unnecessary. Moreover, the final rule is a major rule that generally must have a 60-day delayed effective date in compliance with the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801-808. Therefore, notice-and-comment procedures would be unnecessary because comments provided by interested parties cannot change this statutory 60-day delayed effective date requirement.\1\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ See, for example, EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. E.P.A., 795 F.3d 118, 134-135 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (finding that notice and comment was unnecessary because ``commentators could not have said anything during a notice and comment period that would have changed [the] fact'' that the agency must impose a 60-day delated effective date.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Similarly, notice and comment and a delayed effective date would be unnecessary to make the correction to amendatory instruction 24 for Sec. 156.130(a)(2), which erroneously stated we were revising the text of paragraph (a)(2), rather than the introductory text of paragraph (a)(2) (91 FR 29874). This correction has no effect on the content or meaning of the regulation text. Additionally, if the correction were proposed and subjected to notice and comment, there would be nothing of substance on which the public could comment. Following notice-and-comment procedures and the delayed effective date rule to correct the amendatory instructions for the regulatory text at Sec. 155.170 also is unnecessary because this document simply corrects the inadvertent omission of an amendatory instruction to renumber paragraph (a)(3) of the currently effective version of Sec. 155.170(a)(3) as paragraph (a)(4). Furthermore, delaying the correction to Sec. 155.170, to reinstate the text in the currently effective version of Sec. 155.170(a)(3), to complete notice-and-comment procedures is contrary to the public interest because it would have the effect of allowing regulatory text that was not adopted in compliance with the APA to ``remain on the books,'' while a new rule is proposed and finalized. Without this correction, the final rule effectively rescinds the requirements under the currently effective version of paragraph (a)(3), without that rescission being proposed or otherwise subjected to notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures under section 553(b) of the APA. Thus, this correction will make the regulatory text consistent with the preamble discussions in the proposed and final rules, resulting in a regulation that reflects the policy subjected to notice-and-comment procedures and adopted in the final rule in compliance with the APA. Correcting the errors in the final rule without undue delay will also mitigate any confusion and uncertainty stemming from these errors. Declining to make these corrections now would be contrary to the public's interest in receiving fair and timely notice of the regulatory requirements to which they may be subject. The corrections made through this correcting document resolve inadvertent technical drafting errors so that the final rule accurately reflects the policies adopted therein pursuant to the APA's notice-and- comment rulemaking requirements. Therefore, even if the corrections in this document were deemed to be subject to the notice-and-comment and effective date requirements under section 553 of the APA, there would be good cause to waive the requirements.

IV. Correction of Errors

In FR Doc. 2026-10050 of May 20, 2026 (91 FR 29526), make the following corrections: [[Page 45649]]