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HHS Acquisition Rules

Federal Register rules, proposed rules, and notices from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its acquisition components — sorted newest first. HHS operating divisions (NIH, CDC, CMS, FDA) buy under one umbrella but with very different evaluation cultures. Watch NIH protest decisions for what evaluation language withstands challenge on R&D contracts.

Final Rule

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2027; and Basic Health Program

This final rule contains provisions to improve implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including payment parameters and provisions related to the HHS-operated risk adjustment and risk adjustment data validation (HHS-RADV) programs, as well as 2027 user fee rates for issuers offering qualified health plans (QHPs) through Federally-facilitated Exchanges (FFEs) and State-based Exchanges on the Federal platform (SBE-FPs). This final rule also includes provisions related to

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES · Published May 20, 2026

Proposed Rule

Excepted Fertility Benefits

This document contains proposed rules that would amend the regulations regarding excepted benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the Internal Revenue Code, and the Public Health Service Act to establish certain fertility benefits as a new category of limited excepted benefits. Excepted benefits are generally exempt from the market requirements that were added to those laws by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Patient Protection and Affordab

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY · Published May 13, 2026

Proposed Rule

Restoring Flexibility To Support Head Start Program Access

In this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) proposes to remove requirements from the Head Start Program Performance Standards (Performance Standards) to restore local flexibility to Head Start programs and improve access to quality services. Specifically, this NPRM proposes to remove requirements related to wages and benefits that the Administration believes are not in line with the plain language of the Head Start Act and are costly and overl

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES · Published May 12, 2026

Final Rule

Restoring Flexibility in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)

This final rule amends the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) regulations to reduce costs and burden for States and Territories administering the CCDF program. It rescinds the requirements to limit family co-payments to 7 percent of family income, to provide some direct services through grants or contracts, to pay providers prospectively, and to pay providers based on enrollment. A plain language summary of this final rule is posted at https:// www.regulations.gov/document/ACF-2026-0001-0002

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES · Published May 12, 2026

Final Rule

Medical Devices; Immunology and Microbiology Devices; Classification of the Device To Detect and Identify Microorganism Nucleic Acids and Resistance Markers From Patients With Suspected Orthopedic Infection

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is classifying the device to detect and identify microorganism nucleic acids and resistance markers from patients with suspected orthopedic infection into class II (special controls). The special controls that apply to the device type are identified in this order and will be part of the codified language for classification of the device to detect and identify microorganism nucleic acids and resistance markers from patients with suspected orthopedic infectio

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES · Published May 12, 2026

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