Medicaid program; relations with other agencies, miscellaneous Medicaid definitions, third party liability quality control, and limitations on federal funds for abortions--HCFA. Final rule.

These final regulations (1) revise Medicaid rules to reflect current policy on State payment of cost sharing amounts under Medicare Part B "buy-in" agreements; (2) revise and clarify certain Medicaid definitions; (3) remove the requirement that State plans include third party liability quality control reviews as part of the State's Medicaid quality control systems; and (4) provide for limitations on the use of Federal funds for abortion. These final regulations allow States with Medicare Part B buy-in agreements the option of paying cost sharing amounts for Medicaid beneficiaries for those Medicare services that States do not cover in their Medicaid plans. States may pay cost sharing amounts under Medicare Part B buy-in agreements on all, some or none of the Part B Medicare services that are covered in the Medicaid plan. We are revising definitions and clarifying ambiguities in several existing Medicaid regulations. The revisions are to the definitions of private duty nursing services, inpatient and outpatient, inpatient and outpatient hospital services, and other laboratory and x-ray services. We are removing the requirement in our quality assurance regulations that States monitor third party liability errors as a part of their quality control system. Instead, we plan to issue regulations which encourage improved third party liability (TPL) operations by making them an integral component of State Medicaid Management Information System subject to periodic evaluation through systems performance reviews. We are revising the Medicaid regulations to provide for limitations on the use of Federal funds for abortion, in accordance with previously enacted laws.