60152 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 197 / Thursday, October 12, 2006 / Notices 

Dallas Bar Association’s Antitrust and Trade 

Regulation Section (Jan. 18, 2005), available at 

http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/majoras/ 

050126recentactions.pdf.; Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. 

N.V., et al., FTC Dkt. No. 9300, Opinion of the 

Commission (2004), available at http://www.ftc.gov/ 

os/adjpro/d9300/ 

050106opionpublicrecordversion9300.pdf.; Arch 

Coal, FTC Dkt. No. 9316, Statement of the 

Commission (June 13, 2005), available at http:// 

www.ftc.gov/os/adjpro/d9316/ 

050613commstatement.pdf; id., Dissenting 

Statement of Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour, 

available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/adjpro/d9316/ 

050613harbourstatement.pdf). 

principle and sound enforcement 

policy, the views of DoD as a major 

customer are entitled to no less respect 

in this case. 

From a purely practical perspective, I 

must consider the potential role of DoD 

testimony if the Commission were to 

seek a preliminary injunction over 

DoD’s objections. As a Commissioner, I 

am responsible for evaluating litigation 

risk before sending Commission staff 

into court. Customer testimony, 

standing alone, certainly would not (and 

should not) be dispositive, in this or any 

other merger case. I expect, however, 

that DoD’s conclusions would influence 

a judge’s decision whether to grant a 

preliminary injunction—especially in 

light of the national security overlay and 

DoD’s expertise. 

The proposed consent order addresses 

three competitive concerns that, in 

DoD’s view, are not ‘‘intrinsically 

linked’’ to ULA’s putative national 

security advantages. The AAPC 

acknowledges that the proposed consent 

agreement ‘‘does not attempt to remedy 

the loss of direct competition’’ and is, 

instead, intended to ‘‘address ancillary 

competitive harms that DoD has 

identified as not inextricably tied to the 

national security benefits associated 

with the creation of ULA.’’

While I have voted in favor of 

accepting the proposed consent 

agreement, I note a few troublesome 

aspects. The proposed consent 

agreement departs radically from 

traditional Commission consent orders 

in merger cases. Structural remedies are, 

by far, the preferred way to resolve 

competitive problems in the horizontal 

merger context. Conduct restrictions, 

standing alone, generally are viewed as 

insufficient to address the underlying 

market mechanisms from which 

competitive harm may arise. Here, in 

lieu of market-based competition, the 

monopolist ULA will be subjected to an 

elaborate and highly regulatory system 

of oversight by a ‘‘compliance officer’’

appointed by the Secretary of Defense. 

Ordinarily, such a system would not be 

considered an effective remedy for the 

anticompetitive effects alleged in the 

Commission’s complaint. 

I continue to believe that preserving a 

competitive market structure is the 

preferred ‘‘fix’’ for an anticompetitive 

horizontal merger. Also, I am somewhat 

unsettled by the notion that the 

Commission—an independent, 

bipartisan federal agency—is, in effect, 

delegating away too much of its 

oversight authority to an executive 

branch agency. I recognize, however, 

that staff from the Commission and DoD 

have attempted to craft a workable 

remedy that will strike an appropriate 

balance between competition and 

broader national security interests. 

In the end, I am faced with a Hobson’s 

choice: accept a complex and regulatory 

consent that will prevent some 

competitive harm; or do nothing, and 

allow the joint venture to proceed 

unrestricted. I lack the technical 

expertise to second-guess DoD’s 

conclusion that allowing the formation 

of ULA is the best way to preserve 

national security and protect the public 

interest. In light of our agencies’

established protocol for concurrent 

review of defense industry transactions, 

I reluctantly agree that the Commission 

must give DoD the benefit of the doubt. 

I therefore vote to accept the proposed 

consent agreement. 

[FR Doc. E6–16862 Filed 10–11–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Office of the National Coordinator for 

Health Information Technology, 

American Health Information 

Community Meeting 

ACTION: Announcement of meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

ninth meeting of the American Health 

Information Community in accordance 

with the Federal Advisory Committee 

Act (Pub. L. No. 92–463, 5 U.S.C., App.) 

The American Health Information 

Community will advise the Secretary 

and recommend specific actions to 

achieve a common interoperability 

framework for health information 

technology (IT). 

DATES: October 31, 2006, from 8:30 a.m. 

to 1 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Hubert H. Humphrey 

building (200 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20201), 

Conference Room 800. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Visit 

http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/ahic.html. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Community will discuss personalized 

healthcare, review standards 

recommendations from the Health 

Information Technology Standards 

Panel, and set priorities for 2007. 

A Web cast of the Community 

meeting will be available on the NIH 

Web site at: http:// 

www.videocast.nih.gov/. 

If you have special needs for the 

meeting, please contact (202) 690–7151. 

Dated: October 4, 2006. 

Judith Sparrow, 

Director, American Health Information 

Community, Office of Programs and 

Coordination, Office of the National 

Coordinator. 

[FR Doc. 06–8620 Filed 10–11–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–24–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Committee on Vital and Health 

Statistics: Meeting 

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act, the Department of 

Health and Human Services (HHS) 

announces the following advisory 

committee meeting. 

Name: National Committee on Vital 

and Health Statistics (NCVHS), 

Subcommittee on Standards and 

Security (SSS). 

Time and Date: 

October 11, 2006 9 a.m.–5 p.m. 

October 12, 2006 9 a.m.–5 p.m. 

Place: Herbert H. Humphrey Building, 

200 Independence Avenue SW., Room 

705A, Washington, DC 20201. 

Status: Open. 

Purpose: The purpose of the meeting 

will be to hear testimony on a number 

of issues of interest to the Subcommittee 

including but not limited to, concerns 

and issues regarding implementation of 

the National Provider Identifier (NPI); 

recommendations from the Disability 

Workgroup; an update on the progress 

of the Medicare Modernization Act 

electronic prescribing pilots; and 

standards development organizations 

(SDOs) recommendations on 

streamlining the standards adoption 

process. 

For Further Information Contact: 

Substantive program information as 

well as summaries of meetings and a 

roster of Committee members may be 

obtained from Maria Friedman, Health 

Insurance Specialist, Security and 

Standards Group, Centers for Medicare 

and Medicaid Services, MS: C5–24–04, 

7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 

21244–1850, telephone: 410–786–6333 

or Marjorie S. Greenberg, Executive 

Secretary, NCVHS, National Center for 

Health Statistics, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, Room 1100, 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 197 / Thursday, October 12, 2006 / Notices 60153 

Presidential Building, 3311 Toledo 

Road, Hyattsville, Maryland 20782, 

telephone: (301) 458–4245. Information 

also is available on the NCVHS home 

page of the HHS Web site: http:// 

www.ncvhs.hhs.gov/ where an agenda 

for the meeting will be posted when 

available. 

Should you require reasonable 

accommodation, please contact the CDC 

Office of Equal Employment 

Opportunity on (301) 458–4EEO (4336) 

as soon as possible. 

Dated: October 2, 2006. 

James Scanlon, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science and 

Data Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary 

for Planning and Evaluation. 

[FR Doc. 06–8621 Filed 10–6–06; 4:12am] 

BILLING CODE 4151–05–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

Privacy Act of 1974; Report of a 

Modified or Altered System of Records 

AGENCY: Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS), Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). 

ACTION: Notice of a Modified or Altered 

System of Records (SOR). 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Privacy Act of 1974, we are proposing 

to modify or alter an existing SOR, 

‘‘Medicare Managed Care Beneficiary 

Reconsideration (RECON) System,’’

System No. 09–70–4003, last published 

at 67 Federal Register 48179 (July 23, 

2002). We propose to assign a new CMS 

identification number to this system to 

simplify the obsolete and confusing 

numbering system originally designed 

to identify the Bureau, Office, or Center 

within CMS that maintained the system 

of records. The new assigned identifying 

number for this system should read: 

System No. 09–70–0533. 

We propose to modify existing routine 

use number 1 that permits disclosure to 

agency contractors and consultants to 

include disclosure to CMS grantees who 

perform a task for the agency. CMS 

grantees, charged with completing 

projects or activities that require CMS 

data to carry out that activity, are 

classified separate from CMS 

contractors and/or consultants. The 

modified routine use will remain as 

routine use number 1. We will delete 

routine use number 5 authorizing 

disclosure to support constituent 

requests made to a congressional 

representative. If an authorization for 

the disclosure has been obtained from 

the data subject, then no routine use is 

needed. The Privacy Act allows for 

disclosures with the ‘‘prior written 

consent’’ of the data subject. We will 

broaden the scope of routine uses 

number 7 and 8, authorizing disclosures 

to combat fraud and abuse in the 

Medicare and Medicaid programs to 

include combating ‘‘waste’’ which refers 

to specific beneficiary/recipient 

practices that result in unnecessary cost 

to all Federally-funded health benefit 

programs 

We are modifying the language in the 

remaining routine uses to provide a 

proper explanation as to the need for the 

routine use and to provide clarity to 

CMS’ intention to disclose individualspecific information contained in this 

system. The routine uses will then be 

prioritized and reordered according to 

their usage. We will also take the 

opportunity to update any sections of 

the system that were affected by the 

recent reorganization or the Medicare 

Prescription Drug, Improvement, and 

Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) 

(Public Law 108–173) provisions and to 

update language in the administrative 

sections to correspond with language 

used in other CMS SORs. 

The primary purpose of this modified 

system is to collect and maintain 

information necessary to process 

requests for reconsideration of service 

requests or claims by or on behalf of 

Medicare managed care enrollees, 

promote the effectiveness and integrity 

of the Medicare managed care program, 

and reply to future correspondence 

related to the case. The information 

retrieved from this system of records 

will also be disclosed to: (1) Support 

regulatory, reimbursement, and policy 

functions performed within the agency 

or by a contractor or consultant; (2) 

assist another Federal or state agency; 

(3) assist third party contacts; (4) assist 

Quality Improvement Organizations; (5) 

support litigation involving the agency; 

and (6) combat fraud, waste, and abuse 

in Federally-funded health benefit 

programs. We have provided 

background information about the 

modified system in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below. Although 

the Privacy Act requires only that CMS 

provide an opportunity for interested 

persons to comment on the modified or 

altered routine uses, CMS invites 

comments on all portions of this notice. 

See ‘‘Effective Dates’’ section for 

comment period. 

DATES: Effective Date: CMS filed a 

modified or altered SOR report with the 

Chair of the House Committee on 

Government Reform and Oversight, the 

Chair of the Senate Committee on 

Homeland Security & Governmental 

Affairs, and the Administrator, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) on October 5, 2006. To ensure 

that all parties have adequate time in 

which to comment, the new system will 

become effective 30 days from the 

publication of the notice, or 40 days 

from the date it was submitted to OMB 

and the Congress, whichever is later. We 

may defer implementation of this 

system or one or more of the routine use 

statements listed below if we receive 

comments that persuade us to defer 

implementation. 

ADDRESSES: The public should address 

comments to the CMS Privacy Officer, 

Division of Privacy Compliance, 

Enterprise Architecture and Strategy 

Group, Office of Information Services, 

Mail Stop N2–04–27, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244–

1850. Comments received will be 

available for review at this location, by 

appointment, during regular business 

hours, Monday through Friday from 9 

a.m.–3 p.m., eastern daylight time. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Beverly Sgroi, Health Insurance 

Specialist, Division of Appeals Policy, 

Medicare Enrollment & Appeals Group, 

Center for Beneficiary Choices, CMS, 

Mail Stop C2–12–16, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244–

1850. She can also be reached by 

telephone at 410–786–7638, or via email at Beverly.Sgroi@cms.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1988, 

CMS established a SOR under the 

authority of § 1874 of the Social 

Security Act (the Act) (Title 42 United 

States Code (U.S.C.) section 1395mm). 

Notice of this system, RECON, was 

published in the Federal Register (FR) 

53 FR 35914 (September 15, 1988), a 

routine use was added for the Social 

Security Administration at 61 FR 6645 

(February 21, 1996), three new fraud 

and abuse routine uses were added at 63 

FR 38414 (July 16, 1998), two fraud and 

abuse routine uses were revised and a 

third deleted at 65 FR 50552 (August 18, 

2000), and the name and security 

classification were changed as well as 

deleting a routine use for the state 

insurance administrator at 67 FR 48179 

(July 23, 2002). 

I. Description of the Modified or 

Altered System of Records 

A. Statutory and Regulatory Basis for 

SOR 

Authority for maintenance of the 

system is given under §§ 1852, and 1876 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES