Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 1 / Monday, January 3, 2011 / Notices 159 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program No. 93.778, Medical Assistance 

Program) 

Dated: October 20, 2010. 

Donald M. Berwick, 

Administrator, Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services. 

Dated: November 17, 2010. 

Kathleen Sebelius, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–32979 Filed 12–30–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–C 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Health Resources and Services 

Administration 

Discretionary Grant Program 

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services 

Administration (HRSA), HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of noncompetitive 

program supplemental award. 

SUMMARY: HRSA will be issuing noncompetitive supplemental grant funding 

to the University of Wisconsin, 

Laboratory of Hygiene, Madison, 

Wisconsin, under the Maternal Child 

and Health Bureau’s Blood Lead 

Proficiency Testing Program. The 

University of Wisconsin will use these 

funds to initiate an orderly closeout of 

HRSA-funded activities which clearly 

fall within the purview of the Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention’s 

‘‘Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young 

Children’’ initiative at their National 

Center for Environmental Health. This 

action will also accord the University of 

Wisconsin and the Center additional 

time to solicit recommendations from 

the CDC’s Advisory Committee on 

Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention 

with respect to future funding for this 

activity. 

The Maternal and Child Health 

Bureau (MCHB) has continuously 

supported the National Blood Lead and 

Erythrocyte Protoprophyrin (EP) 

Proficiency Testing Program through the 

University of Wisconsin since 1988. 

Childhood lead poisoning is a wellcharacterized public health problem in 


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160 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 1 / Monday, January 3, 2011 / Notices 

the U.S., and is unfortunately overrepresented in minority, immigrant, and 

low socio-economic populations. The 

proper detection and treatment of lead 

poisoning relies entirely on the accurate 

and precise measurement of blood lead 

concentration. EP is utilized as an 

adjunct test to indicate the extent and 

duration of lead exposure, as well as the 

detection of iron deficiency, another 

pediatric health issue. Proficiency 

testing (PT) is a proven method for 

assuring and improving laboratory test 

accuracy. This program has costeffectively provided monthly PT and 

other lab quality improvement tools to 

nearly 600 laboratories across the U.S. 

and beyond. Of note, the primary focus 

of the program over the last few years 

has been the integration of new and 

usually inexperienced participants into 

the program. An enrollment boom has 

been fueled by proliferation of the CLIAwaived LeadCare II point of care testing 

instrument. In the three years since its 

introduction, LeadCare II enrollment 

has grown from zero to 300 laboratories, 

comprising approximately 40 percent of 

all participants. Continued participation 

increases, and the fact that those 

increases are nearly totally comprised of 

LeadCare II users, represent both a 

public health success and a challenge 

for this program. Since its introduction 

in early 2007, over 300 of these 

laboratories have enrolled for PT, 

swelling program participation to 800 

laboratories. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Intended Recipients of the Award: 

University of Wisconsin, Laboratory of 

Hygiene, Madison, Wisconsin. 

Amount of the Non-Competitive 

Supplemental Funding: $250,000. 

Authority: Section 501(c)(1) of the Social 

Security Act, as amended. 

CFDA Number: 93.110. 

Proposed Project Period: January 1, 

2008–October 31, 2011. 

Justification for Exception to 

Competition: 

The participation of large numbers of 

these labs in voluntary proficiency was 

by design, and represents a public 

health success by assuring blood lead 

screening accuracy where there would 

otherwise be no evaluation. Three 

factors contribute to this. First, is the 

HRSA support of this program, which 

has been increased to accommodate the 

additional labs. 

This support allows laboratories to 

participate at no cost, a vital 

consideration for voluntary participants. 

The second factor is the effort of the 

NBLPT Program to integrate the new 

technology shortly after it became 

available, and collaboration with the 

manufacturer to promote participation. 

The third factor is that some States have 

initiated PT requirements, deeming this 

quality check of sufficient importance to 

mandate successful participation as a 

requisite for Medicaid reimbursement. 

This State-level action illustrates the 

importance of this PT participation, and 

may be the beginning of a trend that will 

serve to increase participation even 

more. 

The University of Wisconsin will use 

these funds to initiate an orderly 

closeout of HRSA-funded activities 

which clearly falls within the purview 

of the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention’s ‘‘Preventing Lead Poisoning 

in Young Children’’ initiative at their 

National Center for Environmental 

Health. This extension with funding 

will also accord the University of 

Wisconsin and the Center to solicit 

recommendations from the CDC’s 

Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead 

Poisoning Prevention with respect to 

future funding for this activity. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David Heppel, M.D., Director, Division 

of Child, Adolescent and Family Health, 

Maternal and Child Health Bureau, 

Health Resources and Services 

Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, 

Room 18A–30, Rockville, MD 20857; 

301–443–2250; dheppel@hrsa.gov. 

Dated: December 23, 2010. 

Mary K. Wakefield, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2010–33063 Filed 12–30–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4165–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Health Resources and Services 

Administration 

National Advisory Committee on Rural 

Health and Human Services; Notice of 

Meeting 

In accordance with section 10(a)(2) of 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(Pub. L. 92–463), announcement is 

made of the following National 

Advisory body scheduled to meet 

during the month of February 2011. 

The National Advisory committee on 

Rural Health will convene its sixtyseventh meeting in the time and place 

specified below: 

Name: National Advisory Committee 

on Rural Health and Human Services. 

Dates and Times: 

February 23, 2011, 8:45 a.m.–5 p.m. 

February 24, 2011, 8:45 a.m.–4 p.m. 

February 25, 2011, 8:45 a.m.–11:15 a.m. 

Place: Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 

Calvert Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20008. 

Phone: (202) 234–0700. 

Status: The meeting will be open to 

the public. 

Purpose: The National Advisory 

Committee on Rural Health and Human 

Services provides advice and 

recommendations to the Secretary with 

respect to the delivery, research, 

development and administration of 

health and human services in rural 

areas. 

Agenda: Wednesday morning at 9 

a.m. the meeting will be called to order 

by the Chairperson of the Committee, 

the Honorable Ronnie Musgrove. There 

will be an update from officials from the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services. This will be followed by a 

series of panel presentations on key 

provisions from the Affordable Care Act 

(ACA). The Committee will be 

examining the rural implications of 

several provisions from the ACA, 

including health insurance exchanges, 

the Maternal and Early Childhood Home 

Visitation program and the Community 

Living Assistance, Services and Support 

program. The day will conclude with a 

period of public comment at 

approximately 4:30 p.m. 

Thursday morning at 9 a.m. the 

Committee will continue to hear panel 

presentations on ACA-related 

provisions and will then break into 

subcommittees on each of those topics 

for further discussion. The day will 

conclude with a period of public 

comment at approximately 4:30 p.m. 

Friday morning at 9 a.m. the 

Committee will summarize key findings 

from the meeting and develop a work 

plan for the next quarter and the June 

meeting. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas Morris, MPA, Executive 

Secretary, National Advisory Committee 

on Rural Health and Human Services, 

Health Resources and Services 

Administration, Parklawn Building, 

Room 10B–45, 5600 Fishers Lane, 

Rockville, MD 20857, Telephone (301) 

443–0835, Fax (301) 443–2803. 

Persons interested in attending any 

portion of the meeting should contact 

Tish Scolnick at the Office of Rural 

Health Policy (ORHP) via Telephone at 

(301) 443–0835, or by e-mail at 

nscolnick@hrsa.gov. The Committee 

meeting agenda will be posted on 

ORHP’s Web site http:// 

www.ruralhealth.hrsa.gov. 


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