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CMS — SafeBlood: Interim Response, February 13, 2003

February 13, 2003

Debby Thetford Nye, Esq. 
Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates, and Woodward, P.L.L.C. 
5414 Pinnacle Point Drive, 
Suite 500 Rogers, 
Arkansas 72758-8131

Dear Ms. Nye:

We have received your letter, dated January 23, 2003, identified as a "Request to Appeal the determination made by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ('CMS') in its January 14, 2003 letter."

As a preliminary matter, we would like to draw your attention to our January 14, 2003, letter. Our letter indicated that we were forwarding your Information Quality Request for Correction (Request) to the Arkansas Contractor Medical Director (CMD) for the limited purpose of reviewing the allegedly erroneous information. We further stated that you could expect a decision on whether a correction of the information is warranted and an explanation of the actions that would be taken, if any, within the next thirty (30) days. Given that CMS through the CMD has not made a determination on the allegedly erroneous information, an appeal of CMS's decision remains premature.

Nevertheless, as you know, representatives of your client, SafeBlood, met with Steve Phurrough, M.D., M.P.A., of CMS on February 7, 2003, to discuss this matter further and present additional information and materials. Your client requested that these additional materials and new information be considered as part of SafeBlood's Request. In order to evaluate fully and consider these materials as requested, we are granting ourselves an additional sixty (60) days to decide the Request, although we anticipate having a final decision much earlier. Pursuant to the CMS Guidelines, upon receiving CMS's decision your client will have thirty (30) days within which to appeal our decision.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at (410).786.7932.

Sincerely,

Daniel R. Waldo 
Director, Information and Methods Group 
Office of Research, Development, and Information

Last Revised:  August, 2004