Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 17, 2013 / Notices 57157 

requires electronic submission of 

modifications for FSS contracts 

managed by GSA. Under the 

modifications clause, vendors may 

request a contract modification by 

submitting a request to the Contracting 

Officer for approval. At a minimum, 

every request shall describe the 

proposed change(s) and provide the 

rationale for the requested change(s). 

The initial clause, previously at GSAR 

552.243–72 Modifications (Multiple 

Award Schedule), is being reinstated at 

GSAR 552.238–81, Modifications 

(Federal Supply Schedule). 

The alternate version of the clause 

implements and mandates electronic 

submission of modifications, and only 

applies to FSS contracts managed by 

GSA. The alternate version of the clause 

links to GSA’s electronic tool, eMod at 

http://eoffer.gsa.gov/. Use of eMod will 

streamline the modification submission 

process for both FSS contractors and 

contracting officers. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA) does not have access to eMod, and 

is therefore not required to comply with 

the requirements of the Alternate I 

version of GSAR clause 552.238–81, 

Modifications (Federal Supply 

Schedule). VA will continue to utilize 

the basic version of the clause in 

management of their FSS contracts. 

B. Discussion and Analysis 

A notice for this collection was 

published in the Federal Register at 78 

FR 31879, on May 28, 2013. One 

comment was received that was outside 

the scope of the notice. 

As a result, no change to the burden 

estimate for this collection was made. 

Public Comments 

Public comments are particularly 

invited on: Whether this collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of functions of the GSAR, 

and will have practical utility; whether 

our estimate of the public burden of this 

collection of information is accurate, 

and based on valid assumptions and 

methodology; ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and ways in 

which we can minimize the burden of 

appropriate technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

C. Annual Reporting Burden 

The annual reporting burden is 

estimated as follows: 

552.238–81 Modifications (Federal 

Supply Schedule) 

Respondents: 1,500. 

Responses per Respondent: 3. 

Total Responses: 4,500. 

Hours per Response: 5. 

Total Burden Hours: 22,500. 

552.238–81 Modifications Alternate I 

(Federal Supply Schedule) 

Estimated Respondents/yr: 19,000. 

Number of Submissions per 

Respondent: 3. 

Total Responses: 57,000. 

Estimated Hours/Response: 4. 

Total Burden Hours: 228,000. 

Obtaining Copies of Proposals 

Requesters may obtain a copy of the 

information collection documents from 

the General Services Administration, 

Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1800 F 

Street NW., Washington, DC 20405; 

telephone 202–501–4755. Please cite 

OMB Control No. 3090–0302, 

‘‘Modifications’’ in all correspondence. 

Dated: September 11, 2013. 

Laura Auletta, 

Acting Senior Procurement Executive, Office 

of Acquisition Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2013–22526 Filed 9–16–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–61–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

intention of the Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) approve the proposed 

information collection project: ‘‘Medical 

Expenditure Panel Survey—Insurance 

Component.’’ In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 

3501–3521, AHRQ invites the public to 

comment on this proposed information 

collection. 

This proposed information collection 

was previously published in the Federal 

Register on June 28th, 2013 and allowed 

60 days for public comment. No 

comments were received. The purpose 

of this notice is to allow an additional 

30 days for public comment. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by October 17, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to: AHRQ’s OMB Desk 

Officer by fax at (202) 395–6974 

(attention: AHRQ’s desk officer) or by 

email at OIRA_submission@

omb.eop.gov (attention: AHRQ’s desk 

officer). 

Copies of the proposed collection 

plans, data collection instruments, and 

specific details on the estimated burden 

can be obtained from the AHRQ Reports 

Clearance Officer. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports 

Clearance Officer, (301) 427–1477, or by 

email at doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project 

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey— 

Insurance Component 

Employer-sponsored health insurance 

is the source of coverage for 78 million 

current and former workers, plus many 

of their family members, and is a 

cornerstone of the U.S. health care 

system. The Medical Expenditure Panel 

Survey—Insurance Component (MEPS– 

IC) measures the extent, cost, and 

coverage of employer-sponsored health 

insurance on an annual basis. These 

statistics are produced at the National, 

State, and sub-State (metropolitan area) 

level for private industry. Statistics are 

also produced for State and Local 

governments. 

This research has the following goals: 

(1) To provide data for Federal 

policymakers evaluating the effects of 

National and State health care reforms. 

(2) To provide descriptive data on the 

current employer-sponsored health 

insurance system and data for modeling 

the differential impacts of proposed 

health policy initiatives. 

(3) To supply critical State and 

National estimates of health insurance 

spending for the National Health 

Accounts and Gross Domestic Product. 

(4) To support evaluation of the 

impact on health insurance offered by 

small employers due to the 

implementation of Small Business 

Health Options Program (SHOP) 

exchanges under the Patient Protection 

and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), 

through the addition of a longitudinal 

component to the sample. 

This study is being conducted by 

AHRQ through the Bureau of the 

Census, pursuant to AHRQ’s statutory 

authority to conduct and support 

research on healthcare and on systems 

for the delivery of such care, including 

activities with respect to the quality, 

effectiveness, efficiency, 

appropriateness and value of healthcare 

services and with respect to quality 

measurement and improvement. 42 

U.S.C. 299a(a)(1) and (2). 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
57158 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 17, 2013 / Notices 

Method of Collection 

To achieve the goals of this project the 

following data collections for both 

private sector and State and local 

government employers will be 

implemented: 

(1) Prescreener Questionnaire—The 

purpose of the Prescreener 

Questionnaire, which is collected via 

telephone, varies depending on the 

insurance status of the establishment 

contacted. (Establishment is defined as 

a single, physical location in the private 

sector and a governmental unit in state 

and local governments.) For 

establishments that do not offer health 

insurance to their employees, the 

prescreener is used to collect basic 

information such as number of 

employees. Collection is completed for 

these establishments through this 

telephone call. For establishments that 

do offer health insurance, contact name 

and address information is collected 

that is used for the mailout of the 

establishment and plan questionnaires. 

Obtaining this contact information helps 

ensure that the questionnaires are 

directed to the person in the 

establishment best equipped to 

complete them. 

(2) Establishment Questionnaire—The 

purpose of the mailed Establishment 

Questionnaire is to obtain general 

information from employers that 

provide health insurance to their 

employees. Information such as total 

active enrollment in health insurance, 

other employee benefits, demographic 

characteristics of employees, and retiree 

health insurance is collected through 

the establishment questionnaire. 

(3) Plan Questionnaire—The purpose 

of the mailed Plan Questionnaire is to 

collect plan-specific information on 

each plan (up to four plans) offered by 

establishments that provide health 

insurance to their employees. This 

questionnaire obtains information on 

total premiums, employer and employee 

contributions to the premium, and plan 

enrollment for each type of coverage 

offered—single, employee-plus-one, and 

family—within a plan. It also asks for 

information on deductibles, copays, and 

other plan characteristics. 

(4) Longitudinal Sample—For 2014, 

an additional sample of small employers 

(those with 50 or fewer employees) will 

be included in the collection. This 

sample, called the Longitudinal Sample 

(LS), is designed to measure the impact 

on small employers of the SHOP 

exchanges that will become available 

that year. The LS will consist of 3,000 

small, private-sector employers that 

responded to the 2013 MEPS–IC regular 

survey. These employers will be 

surveyed again in 2014—using the same 

collection methods as the regular 

survey—in order to track changes in 

their health insurance offerings, 

characteristics, and costs. 

The primary objective of the MEPS– 

IC is to collect information on employersponsored health insurance. Such 

information is needed in order to 

provide the tools for Federal, State, and 

academic researchers to evaluate current 

and proposed health policies and to 

support the production of important 

statistical measures for other Federal 

agencies. 

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden 

Exhibit 1 shows the estimated 

annualized burden hours for the 

respondent’s time to provide the 

requested data. The Prescreener 

questionnaire will be completed by 

32,675 respondents and takes about 51⁄2

minutes to complete. The Establishment 

questionnaire will be completed by 

28,365 respondents and takes about 23 

minutes to complete. The Plan 

questionnaire will be completed by 

23,813 respondents and will require an 

average of 2.2 responses per respondent. 

Each Plan questionnaire takes about 11 

minutes to complete. The total 

annualized burden hours are estimated 

to be 23,150 hours. 

Exhibit 2 shows the estimated 

annualized cost burden associated with 

the respondents’ time to participate in 

this data collection. The annualized cost 

burden is estimated to be $679,221. 

The estimates of annualized burden 

hours and costs have increased slightly 

relative to the 60-Day Notice due to the 

inclusion of the Longitudinal Sample in 

the estimates. 

EXHIBIT 1—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Hours per 

response 

Total burden 

hours 

Prescreener Questionnaire .............................................................................. 32,675 1 0.09 2,941 

Establishment Questionnaire ........................................................................... 28,365 1 *0.38 10,779 

Plan Questionnaire .......................................................................................... 23,813 2.2 0.18 9,430 

Total .......................................................................................................... 84,853 na na 23,150 

* The burden estimate printed on the establishment questionnaire is 45 minutes which includes the burden estimate for completing the establishment questionnaire, an average of 2.2 plan questionnaires, plus the prescreener. The establishment and plan questionnaires are sent to the 

respondent as a package and are completed by the respondent at the same time. 

EXHIBIT 2—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST BURDEN

Form name Number of 

respondents 

Total burden 

hours 

Average 

hourly wage 

rate * 

Total cost 

burden 

Prescreener Questionnaire .............................................................................. 32,675 2,941 29.34 $86,289 

Establishment Questionnaire ........................................................................... 28,365 10,779 29.34 316,256 

Plan Questionnaire .......................................................................................... 23,813 9,430 29.34 276,676 

Total .......................................................................................................... 84,853 23,150 na 679,221 

* Based upon the mean hourly wage for Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists occupation code 13–1141, at http://bls.gov/oes/

current/oes131141.htm (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.) 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 17, 2013 / Notices 57159 

Request for Comments 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, comments on AHRQ’s 

information collection are requested 

with regard to any of the following: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of AHRQ health care 

research and health care information 

dissemination functions, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of 

AHRQ’s estimate of burden (including 

hours and costs) of the proposed 

collection(s) of information; (c) ways to 

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 

of the information to be collected; and 

(d) ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information upon the 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and 

included in the Agency’s subsequent 

request for OMB approval of the 

proposed information collection. All 

comments will become a matter of 

public record. 

Dated: September 10, 2013. 

Richard Kronick, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2013–22578 Filed 9–16–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Scientific Information Request on 

Medication Therapy Management 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. 

ACTION: Request for scientific 

information submissions. 

SUMMARY: The Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking 

scientific information submissions from 

the public on medication therapy 

management Scientific information is 

being solicited to inform our review of 

Medication Therapy Management, 

which is currently being conducted by 

the Evidence-based Practice Centers for 

the AHRQ Effective Health Care 

Program. Access to published and 

unpublished pertinent scientific 

information on medication therapy 

management will improve the quality of 

this review. AHRQ is conducting this 

comparative effectiveness review 

pursuant to Section 1013 of the 

Medicare Prescription Drug, 

Improvement, and Modernization Act of 

2003, Public Law 108–173, and Section 

902(a) of the Public Health Service Act, 

42 U.S.C. 299a(a). 

DATES: Submission Deadline on or 

before October 17, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Online submissions: http:// 

effectivehealthcareAHRQ.gov/index.

cfm/submit-scientific-informationpackets/. Please select the study for 

which you are submitting information 

from the list to upload your documents. 

Email submissions: SIPS@epc-src.org. 

Print submissions: 

Mailing Address: Portland VA Research 

Foundation, Scientific Resource 

Center, ATTN: Scientific Information 

Packet Coordinator, P.O. Box 69539, 

Portland, OR 97239. 

Shipping Address (FedEx, UPS, etc.): 

Portland VA Research Foundation, 

Scientific Resource Center, ATTN: 

Scientific Information Packet 

Coordinator, 3710 SW., U.S. Veterans 

Hospital Road, Mail Code: R&D 71, 

Portland, OR 97239. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robin Paynter, Research Librarian, 

Telephone: 503–220–8262 ext. 58652 or 

Email: SIPS@epc-src.org. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality has commissioned the Effective 

Health Care (EHC) Program Evidencebased Practice Centers to complete a 

review of the evidence for Medication 

Therapy Management. 

The EHC Program is dedicated to 

identifying as many studies as possible 

that are relevant to the questions for 

each of its reviews. In order to do so, we 

are supplementing the usual manual 

and electronic database searches of the 

literature by requesting information 

from the public (e.g., details of studies 

conducted). We are looking for studies 

that report on medication therapy 

management, including those that 

describe adverse events. The entire 

research protocol, including the key 

questions, is also available online at: 

http://www.effectivehealthcare.AHRQ.

gov/search-for-guides-reviews-andreports/?pageaction=displayproduct&

productid=1601. 

This notice is to notify the public that 

the EHC program would find the 

following information on medication 

therapy management helpful: 

D A list of completed studies your 

company has sponsored. In the list, 

indicate whether results are available on 

ClinicalTrials.gov along with the 

ClinicalTrials.gov trial number. 

D For completed studies that do not 

have results on ClinicalTrials.gov, a 

summary, including the following 

elements: study number, study period, 

design, methodology, indication and 

diagnosis, proper use instructions, 

inclusion and exclusion criteria, 

primary and secondary outcomes, 

baseline characteristics, number of 

patients screened/eligible/enrolled/lost 

to follow-up/withdrawn/analyzed, 

effectiveness/efficacy, and safety results. 

D A list of ongoing studies your 

company has sponsored. In the list, 

please provide the ClinicalTrials.gov 

trial number or, if the trial is not 

registered, the protocol for the study 

including a study number, the study 

period, design, methodology, indication 

and diagnosis, proper use instructions, 

inclusion and exclusion criteria, and 

primary and secondary outcomes. 

D Description of whether the above 

studies constitute ALL Phase II and 

above clinical trials sponsored by your 

company for this indication and an 

index outlining the relevant information 

in each submitted file. 

Your contribution is very beneficial to 

the Program. The contents of all 

submissions will be made available to 

the public upon request. Materials 

submitted must be publicly available or 

can be made public. Materials that are 

considered confidential; marketing 

materials; study types not included in 

the review, such as cross-sectional 

studies, case series, case reports, beforeand-after designs without a control 

group, and program evaluation data that 

does not include a comparison group; or 

information on indications not included 

in the review cannot be used by the 

Effective Health Care Program. This is a 

voluntary request for information, and 

all costs for complying with this request 

must be borne by the submitter. 

The draft of this review will be posted 

on AHRQ’s EHC program Web site and 

available for public comment for a 

period of 4 weeks. If you would like to 

be notified when the draft is posted, 

please sign up for the email list at: 

http://effectivehealthcare.AHRQ.gov/

index.cfm/join-the-email-list1/. 

The systematic review will answer the 

following questions. This information is 

provided as background. AHRQ is not 

requesting that the public provide 

answers to these questions. The entire 

research protocol, is also available 

online at: http://www.effectivehealth

care.AHRQ.gov/search-for-guidesreviews-and-reports/?pageaction=

displayproduct&productid=1601. 

Question 1 

What are the components and 

implementation features of MTM 

interventions? 

Question 2 

In adults with one or more chronic 

diseases who are taking prescription 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES