498 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 3 / Wednesday, January 5, 2000 / Notices

instructions must be available in the

form of manuals, audiotapes, and

videotapes and must be provided to all

sites as part of the licensing

arrangement.

2. A list of multiple sites or affiliates

that are located in various geographic

locations throughout the United States

and that use the parent organization’s

name and are recognized as entities of

the parent organization. The parent

organization must provide initial on-site

training to all affiliated staff and

schedule regular on-site visits to ensure

adherence to the prescribed regimen.

3. A standardized protocol that

describes the program in detail and

includes a prescription of a low-fat diet,

lifestyle counseling, nutrition

education, supervised exercise, stress

management training, group support,

and smoking cessation. In addition, the

protocol must provide for medical lipid

management. The protocol must have a

defined treatment plan that provides the

length of the regimen and the sessions

(by frequency and time). Patient and

staff goals must be specified. The

manual must contain a description of

staffing needs, educational

requirements, and the roles and

responsibilities of all personnel.

4. A formal management plan that

describes the coordination of reporting

and communicating to the affiliated

sites (for example, regular phone

conferences, annual or bi-annual

retreats, and electronic messaging). A

recognized program or site coordinator

must act as a liaison at the parent site

to provide guidance and address issues

that arise during day-to-day operations.

5. A minimum of 3 years of

continuous operation using the

standardized protocol. Affiliates must

have a minimum of 1 year of experience

in providing the same standardized

services and should be recognized as a

part of, or operate under, a larger

corporate entity that is a Medicare

provider.

6. A record of successful marketing of

its program to, or its use by, the age 65

and over population, including the

under-served and minority populations.

7. A record of successful patient

adherence to the program.

8. Coverage by a minimum of one

major private insurer.

9. The capability or potential of

receiving and transmitting information

electronically between its sites and

HCFA.

This notice is not covered by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and

accordingly was not reviewed by the

Office of Management and Budget. In

accordance with Executive Order 12866,

this notice was not reviewed by the

Office of Management and Budget.

We have examined this notice in

accordance with Executive Order 13132,

Federalism, and have determined that it

will not have any negative impact on

the rights, roles, or responsibilities of

State, local, or Tribal governments.

Authority: Sections 402(a)(1)(G) and (a)(2)

of the Social Security Amendments of 1967

(Public Law 90–248), as amended (42 U.S.C.

1395b–1(a)(1)(G) and (a)(2)).

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program No. 93.779; Health Financing,

Demonstrations, and Experiments)

Dated: December 15, 1999.

Nancy-Ann Min DeParle,

Administrator, Health Care Financing

Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–125 Filed 1–4–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Health Care Financing Administration

[HCFA–3029–WN]

Medicare Program; Cancellation of the

Meeting of the Medical and Surgical

Procedures Panel of the Medicare

Coverage Advisory Committee—

January 19 and 20, 2000

AGENCY: Health Care Financing

Administration (HCFA), HHS.

ACTION: Notice of meeting cancellation.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the

cancellation of the January 19 and 20,

2000 meeting of the Medical and

Surgical Procedures Panel of the

Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee

(MCAC).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Constance A. Conrad, Executive

Secretary, 410–786–4631.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

notice announces the cancellation of the

January 19 and 20, 2000 meeting of the

Medical and Surgical Procedures Panel

of the MCAC. Notice of the meeting was

given on December 13, 1999 (64 FR

69538). The meeting will be

rescheduled and announced in a

subsequent Federal Register notice.

Authority: 5 U.S.C. App. 2, section 10(a)(1)

and (a)(2).

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program No. 93.774, Medicare—

Supplementary Medical Insurance Program)

Dated: December 14, 1999.

Jeffrey L. Kang,

Director, Office of Clinical Standards and

Quality, Health Care Financing

Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–123 Filed 1–4–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Health Care Financing Administration

Statement of Organization, Functions,

and Delegations of Authority

Part F of the Statement of

Organization, Functions, and

Delegations of Authority for the

Department of Health and Human

Services, Health Care Financing

Administration (HCFA), (Federal

Register, Vol. 62, No. 85, pp. 24122,

24123, and 24124, dated Friday, May 2,

1997) is amended to update the Office

of Communications and Operations

Support (OCOS) and the Center for

Beneficiary Services (CBS) functional

statements to reflect the transfer of the

Agency’s beneficiary-centered

communications functions from OCOS

to CBS. CBS made additional changes to

the organization’s functional statement

to more accurately reflect the Center’s

responsibilities.

The specific amendments to Part F are

described below.

Section F.20.A.5. (Functions),

paragraph 6, Office of Communications

and Operations Support (FAL) and

paragraph 10, Center for Beneficiary

Services (FAQ), are amended by

deleting both organizations’ functional

statements in their entirety and

replacing them with the following:

6. Office of Communications and

Operations Support (FAL)

• Serves a neutral broker

coordination role, including scheduling

meetings and briefings for the

Administrator and coordinating

communications between and among

central and regional offices, in order to

ensure that emerging issues are

identified early, all concerned

components are directly and fully

involved in policy development/

decision-making and that all points of

view are presented.

• Coordinates and monitors assigned

agency initiatives which are generally

tactical, short-term and crosscomponent in nature (e.g., legislative

implementation).

• Provides operational and analytical

support to the Executive Council.

• Manages speaking and meeting

requests for or on behalf of the

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 3 / Wednesday, January 5, 2000 / Notices 499

Administrator, Deputy Administrator,

and Executive Associate Administrator

and researches and writes speeches.

• Coordinates agency-wide

communication policies for

correspondence, manuals, regulations,

and responses to audits.

• Coordinates the preparation of

manuals and other policy instructions to

insure accurate and consistent

implementation of the Agency’s

programs.

• Manages the Agency’s system for

developing, clearing and tracking

regulations, setting regulation priorities

and corresponding work agendas;

coordinates the review of regulations

received for concurrence from

departmental and other government

agencies and develops routine and

special reports on the Agency’s

regulatory activities.

• Manages the agency-wide clearance

system to insure appropriate

involvement from agency components

and serves as a primary focal point for

liaison with the Executive Secretariat in

the Office of the Secretary.

• Operates the agency-wide

correspondence tracking and control

system and provides guidance and

technical assistance on standards for

content of correspondence and

memoranda.

• Provides management and

administrative support to the Office of

the Attorney Advisor and staff.

• Acts as audit liaison with the

General Accounting Office (GAO) and

the HHS Office of Inspector General

(OIG).

• Develops and maintains Agencywide executive management

information reporting and tracking

systems (including the Management

Reform Initiative and Reports to

Congress) significant item reports,

legislative (Balanced Budget Act)

implementation, and management

information reports for the Office of the

Administrator.

• Acts as the committee management

official for HCFA under the Federal

Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

• Develops standard processes for all

HCFA FACA committees and provides

operational and logistical support to

HCFA components for conferences and

on all matters relating to Federal

Advisory Committees.

10. Center for Beneficiary Services

(FAQ)

• Serves as the focal point for all

Agency interactions with beneficiaries,

their families, care givers, health care

providers, and others operating on their

behalf concerning improving beneficiary

ability to make informed decisions

about their health and about program

benefits administered by the Agency.

These activities include strategic and

implementation planning, execution,

assessment and communications.

• Assesses beneficiary and other

consumer needs, develops and oversees

activities targeted to meet these needs,

and documents and disseminates results

of these activities. These activities focus

on agency beneficiary service goals and

objectives and include: development of

baseline and ongoing monitoring

information concerning populations

affected by agency programs;

development of performance measures

and assessment programs; design and

implementation of beneficiary services

initiatives; development of

communications channels and feedback

mechanisms within the Agency and

between the Agency and its

beneficiaries and their representatives;

and close collaboration with other

Federal and state agencies and other

stakeholders with a shared interest in

better serving our beneficiaries.

• Develops national policy for all

Medicare Parts A, B, and C beneficiary

eligibility, enrollment, entitlement;

premium billing and collection;

coordination of benefits; rights and

protections; dispute resolution process;

as well as policy for managed care

enrollment and disenrollment to assure

the effective administration of the

Medicare program, including the

development of related legislative

proposals.

• Oversees the development of

privacy and confidentiality policies

pertaining to the collection, use, and

release to individually identifiable data.

• Coordinates beneficiary-centered

information, education, and service

initiatives.

• Develops and tests new and

innovative methods to improve

beneficiary aspects of health care

delivery systems through Title XVIII,

XIX, and XXI demonstrations and other

creative approaches to meeting the

needs of agency beneficiaries.

• Assures, in coordination with other

centers and offices, the activities of

Medicare contractors, including

managed care plans, agents, and state

agencies meet the Agency’s

requirements on matters concerning

beneficiaries and other consumers.

• Plans and administers the contracts

and grants related to beneficiary and

customer service, including the State

Health Insurance Assistance Program

grants.

• Formulates strategies to advance

overall beneficiary communications

goals and coordinates the design and

publication process for all beneficiarycentered information, education, and

service initiatives.

• Builds a range of partnerships with

other national organizations for effective

consumer outreach, awareness, and

education efforts in support of Agency

programs.

• Serves as the HCFA lead for

Medicare carrier and fiscal intermediary

management, oversight, budget, and

performance issues.

• Functions as HCFA liaison for all

Medicare carrier and fiscal intermediary

program issues and, in close

collaboration with the regional offices

and other HCFA components,

coordinates the agency-wide contractor

activities.

• Manages contractor instructions,

workload, and change management

process.

• Collaborates with other HCFA

components to establish ongoing

performance expectations for Medicare

contractors (carriers and fiscal

intermediaries) consistent with the

agency’s goals; interpret, evaluate, and

provide information on Medicare

contractors in terms of ongoing

compliance with performance

requirements and expectations; evaluate

compliance with issued instructions;

evaluate contractor-specific

performance and/or integrity issues; and

evaluate/monitor corrective action, if

necessary.

• Manages, monitors, and provides

oversight of contractor (carriers and

fiscal intermediaries) transition

activities including replacement of

departing contractors and the resulting

transfer of workload, functional

realignments, and geographic workload

carveouts.

• Maintains and provides accurate

contractor specific information.

Develops and implements long-term feefor-service contractor strategy, tactical

plans, and other planning documents.

• Serves as lead on current/proposed

legislation in order to determine impact

on contractor operations.

Dated: December 15, 1999.

Nancy-Ann Min DeParle,

Administrator, Health Care Financing

Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–122 Filed 1–4–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P