78440 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 250 / Friday, December 29, 2006 / Notices 

11This figure includes both the estimated 1% of 

26.69 million requests that will be made by mail 

each year (266,900), and the estimated 5% of the 

requests initially made over the Internet or 

telephone that will be redirected to the mail process 

(5% of 99% of 26.69 million = 1,321,155). 

12The 2005 BLS wage rate for telephone 

operators, $12.36, increased by 6.385% for 

compounded wage inflation, is $13.15. 

13The 2005 BLS wage rate for employees in 

administrative support, clerical (level 4 of 9), 

$14.17, multiplied by 6.385% for compounded 

wage inflation, is $15.07. 

14The 2005 BLS wage rate for top-level computer 

programmers, $48.03, multiplied by 6.385% for 

compounded wage inflation, is $51.10. The 2005 

BLS wage rate for marketing managers, averaged 

overall, is $45.36; compounded for wage inflation 

at 6.385% it becomes $48.26. 

15This consists of an estimated $7.69 million for 

automated telephone cost ($1.20 per request x 6.41 

million requests) and an estimated $700,000 ($0.035 

per request x 20 million requests) for internet web 

service cost. Per unit cost estimates are based on 

staff’s knowledge of the industry. 

16The consumer reporting industry is a multibillion dollar market. As of 2002, it is estimated to 

have more than $4 billion dollars in sales of file 

disclosures. One study indicates that the 

nationwide consumer reporting agencies had 

approximately $1.2 billion in earnings in 2002. See 

Michael Turner, Daniel Balis, Joseph Duncan, and 

Robin Varghese, ‘‘Free Consumer Credit Reports: At 

What Cost? The Economic Impact of a Free Credit 

Report Law to the National Credit Reporting 

Infrastructure,’’ Washington, DC: Information Policy 

Institute, September, 2003. Thus, the total labor and 

non-labor cost burden estimate of $13.57 million 

represents a small percentage—approximately 1% 

of the overall market ($13.57 million divided by 

$1.2 billion). This comparison is conservative, as it 

does not include the earnings of the nationwide 

specialty consumer reporting agencies. 

10 minutes per request is required to 

handle these requests, thereby totaling 

44,483 hours of time by clerical 

personnel. [(266,900 x 10 minutes)/60 

minutes = 44,483 hours] In addition, 

whenever the requesting consumer 

cannot be identified using an automated 

method (a Web site or automated 

telephone service), it will be necessary 

to redirect that consumer to send 

identifying material along with the 

request by mail. Staff estimates that this 

will occur in about 5% of the new 

requests (or 1,321,155) that were 

originally placed over the internet or 

telephone. Staff estimates that inputting 

and processing those redirected requests 

will consume approximately 10 minutes 

apiece at a cumulative total of 220,193 

clerical hours. [(1,321,155 x 10 

minutes)/60 minutes = 220,193 hours] 

Instructions to Consumers 

The Rule also requires that certain 

instructions be provided to consumers. 

See Rule sections 610.2(b)(2)(iv)(A,B), 

610.3(a)(2)(iii)(A,B). Minimal associated 

time or cost is involved, however. 

Internet instructions to consumers are 

embedded in the centralized source 

Web site and do not require additional 

time or cost for the nationwide 

consumer reporting agencies. Similarly, 

regarding telephone requests, the 

automated phone systems provide the 

requisite instructions when consumers 

select certain options. Some consumers 

who request their credit reports by mail 

may additionally request printed 

instructions from the nationwide and 

nationwide specialty consumer 

reporting agencies. Staff estimates that 

there will be a total of 1,588,055 

requests each year for free annual file 

disclosures by mail.11 Based on their 

knowledge of the industry, staff 

estimates that of the predicted 1,588,055 

mail requests 10% (or 158,806) will 

request instructions by mail. If printed 

instructions are sent to each of these 

consumers by mail, requiring 10 

minutes of clerical time per consumer, 

this will require 26,468 hours. [(158,806 

instructions x 10 minutes)/60 minutes 

per hour] 

Labor costs: $5.18 million. 

Labor costs are derived by applying 

hourly cost figures to the burden hours 

described above. Accordingly, staff 

estimates that it will cost $70,195 to 

provide annual file disclosures for 

requests that require a telephone service 

representative. [5,338 hours x $13.15 

per hour].12 The remaining processing 

of requests for annual file disclosures 

and instructions will be performed by 

clerical personnel, which will require 

291,144 hours at a cost of $4,387,540. 

[(44,483 hours for handling initial mail 

request + 220,193 hours for handling 

requests redirected to mail + 26,468 

hours for handling instructions mailed 

to consumers) x $15.07 per hour.13] As 

elaborated on above, staff estimates that 

a total of 14,560 labor hours (8,320 

internet contract hours + 6,240 

telephone capacity contract hours) will 

be needed to obtain, maintain, and 

adjust the new capacity requirements 

for the automated telephone call center 

and the internet web services. This will 

result in approximately $726,294 per 

year in labor costs. [(8,320 hours x 

$51.10 per hour for automated phone 

service) + (6,240 hours x $48.26 per 

hour for Web services)] 14 Thus, staff 

estimates that all non-contract labor will 

cost $5.18 million each year. 

Capital/other non-labor costs: $8.39 

million. 

Staff believes it is likely that the 

consumer reporting agencies will use 

third-party contractors (instead of their 

own employees) to increase the capacity 

of their systems. Because of the way 

these contracts are typically established, 

these costs will likely be incurred on a 

continuing basis, and will be calculated 

based on the number of requests 

handled by the systems. Staff estimates 

that the total annual amount to be paid 

for services delivered under these 

contracts is $8.39 million.15

Thus, combined, estimated annual 

labor and non-labor costs are 

approximately $13.57 million per 

year.16

William Blumenthal, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. E6–22406 Filed 12–28–06; 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 

11th meeting of the American Health 

Information Community in accordance 

with the Federal Advisory Committee 

Act (Pub. L. 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: January 23, 2007, from 8:30 a.m. 

to 4:30 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 

meeting will include presentations by 

the Consumer Empowerment, 

Biosurveillance, Confidentiality, Privacy 

and Security, and Quality Workgroups 

on their Recommendations and also a 

demonstration of prototypes of the 

Nationwide Health Information Network 

(NHIN). 

A Web site of the Community meeting 

will be available on the NIH Web site at: 

http://ww.videocast.nih.gov/. 

If you have special needs for the 

meeting, please contact (202) 690–7151. 

Dated: December 19, 2006. 

Judith Sparrow, 

Director, American Health Information 

Community, Office of Programs and 

Coordination, Office of the National 

Coordinator for Health Information 

Technology. 

[FR Doc. 06–9931 Filed 12–28–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–24–M 


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