29646 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 97 / Friday, May 18, 2012 / Notices 

To be assured consideration, 

comments and recommendations for the 

proposed information collections must 

be received by the OMB desk officer at 

the address below, no later than 5 p.m. 

on June 18, 2012. 

OMB, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Attention: CMS 

Desk Officer, Fax Number: (202) 395– 

6974. Email: 

OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov. 

Dated: May 15, 2012. 

Martique Jones, 

Director, Regulations Development Group, 

Division B, Office of Strategic Operations and 

Regulatory Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2012–12078 Filed 5–17–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[Document Identifier CMS–10424 and CMS– 

10416] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Submission for OMB 

Review; Comment Request 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, HHS. 

In compliance with the requirement 

of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services (CMS), Department of Health 

and Human Services, is publishing the 

following summary of proposed 

collections for public comment. 

Interested persons are invited to send 

comments regarding this burden 

estimate or any other aspect of this 

collection of information, including any 

of the following subjects: (1) The 

necessity and utility of the proposed 

information collection for the proper 

performance of the Agency’s function; 

(2) the accuracy of the estimated 

burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (4) the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology to 

minimize the information collection 

burden. 

1. Type of Information Collection 

Request: New collection; Title of 

Information Collection: Cooperative 

Agreement to Support Establishment of 

the Affordable Care Act’s Health 

Insurance Exchanges; Use: All States 

(including the 50 States, consortia of 

States, and the District of Columbia, 

herein referred to as States) are eligible 

for the Cooperative Agreement to 

Support Establishment of the Affordable 

Care Act’s Health Insurance Exchanges. 

Section 1311 of the Affordable Care Act 

provides for grants to States for the 

planning and establishment of these 

Exchanges. Given the innovative nature 

of Exchanges and the statutorilyprescribed relationship between the 

Secretary and States in their 

development and operation, it is critical 

that the Secretary work closely with 

States to provide necessary guidance 

and technical assistance to ensure that 

States can meet the prescribed 

timelines, federal requirements, and 

goals of the statute. 

In order to provide appropriate and 

timely guidance and technical 

assistance, the Secretary must have 

access to timely, periodic information 

regarding State progress. Consequently, 

the information collection associated 

with these grants is essential to 

facilitating reasonable and appropriate 

federal monitoring of funds, providing 

statutorily-mandated assistance to States 

to implement Exchanges in accordance 

with Federal requirements, and to 

ensure that States have all necessary 

information required to proceed, such 

that retrospective corrective action can 

be minimized. 

There are two levels of awards for 

States to apply for the Establishment 

grants. Level One grants are open to 

States that are participating in either the 

Federally-facilitated Exchange, 

including States that will be 

collaborating with the Federallyfacilitated Exchange on certain 

activities, or developing a State-based 

Exchange. Level Two Establishment 

grants are open to States that are 

establishing a State-based Exchange. 

Level One Establishment grantees may 

apply for additional funding under 

Level Two Establishment grants once 

they have achieved the benchmarks 

identified in the Level Two 

Establishment review criteria. 

HHS anticipates releasing this 

funding opportunity on June 15, 2012. 

There will be ten opportunities for 

applicants to apply for funding. HHS 

anticipates Level One Establishment 

and Level Two Establishment 

applications will be due: August 1, 

2012; November 1, 2012; February 1, 

2013; May 1, 2013; August 1, 2013; 

November 1, 2013; February 3, 2014; 

May 1, 2014; August 1, 2014; and 

November 3, 2014. The Period of 

Performance for Level One 

Establishment grants is up to one year 

after date of award. The Period of 

Performance for Level Two 

Establishment grants is up to three years 

after date of award. Form Number: 

CMS–10424 (OCN: 0938–NEW); 

Frequency: Annually; Affected Public: 

State, Local, or Tribal Governments; 

Number of Respondents: 51; Number of 

Responses: 331; Total Annual Hours: 

50,158. (For policy questions regarding 

this collection contact Katherine 

Harkins at 301–492–4445. For all other 

issues call 410–786–1326.) 

2. Type of Information Collection 

Request: New collection; Title of 

Information Collection: Blueprint for 

Approval of Affordable State-based and 

State Partnership Insurance Exchanges 

Use: All States (including the 50 States, 

the Territories, and the District of 

Columbia herein referred to as States) 

have the opportunity under Section 

1311(b) of the Affordable Care Act to 

establish an Exchange no later than 

October 1, 2013 (Plan Year 2014). 

Given the innovative nature of 

Exchanges and the statutorilyprescribed relationship between the 

Secretary and States in their 

development and operation, it is critical 

that the Secretary work closely with 

States to provide necessary guidance 

and technical assistance to ensure that 

States can meet the prescribed 

timelines, federal requirements, and 

goals of the statute. 

States seeking to establish an 

Exchange must build an Exchange that 

meets the requirements set out in 

Section 1311(d) of the Affordable Care 

Act and 45 CFR 155.105. In order to 

ensure that a State seeking approval as 

a State Exchange or State Partnership 

Exchange in the Federally-facilitated 

Exchange meet all applicable 

requirements the Secretary will require 

a State to submit a Blueprint for 

approval during the Fall of 2012 and to 

demonstrate operational readiness 

through virtual or on-site readiness 

review. The Blueprint has two sections: 

The Blueprint Declaration Letter and the 

Blueprint Application. Submission of 

this Blueprint Declaration Letter will be 

online and on paper and submission of 

the Blueprint Application will be 

online. Form Number: CMS–10416 

(OCN: 0938–New) Frequency: Once; 

Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal 

governments; Number of Respondents: 

56; Number of Responses: 56; Total 

Annual Hours: 11,816. (For policy 

questions regarding this collection, 

contact Sarah Summer 301–492–4443. 

For all other issues call (410) 786–1326.) 

To obtain copies of the supporting 

statement and any related forms for the 

proposed paperwork collections 

referenced above, access CMS Web site 

address at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ 

PaperworkReductionActof1995, or 

Email your request, including your 

address, phone number, OMB number, 

and CMS document identifier, to 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 97 / Friday, May 18, 2012 / Notices 29647 

Paperwork@cms.hhs.gov, or call the 

Reports Clearance Office on (410) 786– 

1326. 

To be assured consideration, 

comments and recommendations for the 

proposed information collections must 

be received by the OMB desk officer at 

the address below, no later than 5 p.m. 

on June 18, 2012. OMB, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Attention: CMS Desk Officer, Fax 

Number: (202) 395–6974, Email: 

OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov. 

Dated: May 15, 2012. 

Martique Jones, 

Director, Regulations Development Group, 

Division B, Office of Strategic Operations and 

Regulatory Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2012–12108 Filed 5–16–12; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–5052–N2] 

Medicare Program; Solicitation for 

Proposals for the Medicare Graduate 

Nurse Education Demonstration— 

Deadline Extension 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of extension of deadline. 

SUMMARY: This notice extends the 

deadline for submission of proposals to 

apply to participate in the Medicare 

Graduate Nurse Education (GNE) 

Demonstration. 

DATES: Proposals will be considered 

timely if they are received on or before 

5 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (E.S.T.) 

on May 25, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Proposals should be mailed 

to the following address: Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services, Center 

for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, 

Attention: Alexandre Laberge, Mail 

Stop: WB–06–05, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244– 

1850. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Alexandre Laberge (410) 786–8625 or by 

email at GNE@cms.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

General Information: Please refer to 

file code (CMS–5052–N2) on the 

application. Proposals (an unbound 

original and 10 electronic copies on CD– 

ROM) must be typed for clarity and 

should not exceed 50 double-spaced 

pages, exclusive of cover letter, the 

executive summary, resumes, forms, 

and no more than 15 pages supporting 

documentation. Because of staffing and 

resource limitations, we cannot accept 

proposals by facsimile (FAX) 

transmission. Applicants may, but are 

not required to, submit a total of 10 

copies to assure that each reviewer 

receives a proposal in the manner 

intended by the applicant (for example, 

collated, tabulated color copies). Hard 

copies and CD–ROM electronic copies 

must be identical. 

Eligible Organizations: As set forth in 

section 5509 of the Affordable Care Act 

an ‘‘eligible hospital’’ may apply to 

perform the responsibilities specified. 

Section 5509(e)(5) of the Affordable 

Care Act defines an ‘‘eligible hospital’’ 

to mean a hospital (as defined in section 

1861(e) of the Social Security Act (the 

Act) (42 U.S.C. 1395x)) or a critical 

access hospital (as defined in section 

1861(mm)(1) of the Act) that has a 

written agreement in place with—(A) 1 

or more applicable schools of nursing; 

and (B) 2 or more applicable nonhospital community-based care settings. 

The written agreement must meet 

specific requirements set forth in 

section 5509 of the Affordable Care Act 

including—(1) The obligations of the 

eligible partners with respect to the 

provision of qualified training; and (2) 

the obligation of the eligible hospital to 

reimburse such eligible partners 

applicable (in a timely manner) for the 

costs of such qualified training 

attributable to partner. The 

Demonstration will include up to five 

eligible hospitals. 

I. Background 

We are seeking eligible hospital 

applicants, which includes critical 

access hospitals, to partner with one or 

more applicable schools of nursing 

(SONs) and two or more applicable 

nonhospital community-based care 

settings (CCSs) to provide advanced 

practice registered nurse (APRN) 

students with qualified training. See 

section 5509(e) of the Affordable Care 

Act for the definitions of the terms used 

in the preceding sentence. At least half 

of the clinical training must be provided 

in non-hospital CCSs which may 

include federally qualified health 

centers (FQHCs), rural health clinics 

(RHCs), and other nonhospital settings 

as determined appropriate by the 

Secretary. However, the Secretary may 

waive the requirement under section 

5509(e)(7)(A)(ii) of the Affordable Care 

Act with respect to eligible hospitals 

located in rural or medically 

underserved areas. 

On March 22, 2012, we posted a 

solicitation for proposals on the 

Innovation Center Web site. In addition, 

in the March 22, 2012 Federal Register 

(77 FR 16841) we published a notice of 

solicitation for proposals to participate 

in the Graduate Nurse Education (GNE) 

Demonstration. The Demonstration 

provides a source of Medicare funding 

for the reasonable costs for clinical 

training attributable to the incremental 

increase in the number of APRN 

students enrolled in participating SONs 

during the Demonstration relative to an 

established baseline. Section 5509 of the 

Affordable Care Act sets forth 

limitations on the reasonable costs 

reimbursable under the Demonstration. 

We will make interim payments to 

selected hospitals with a cost settlement 

process using Medicare reasonable cost 

principles. Participating eligible 

hospitals must establish written 

agreements with one or more applicable 

SONs and two or more applicable nonhospital CCSs that define the obligations 

of each partner with respect to the 

provision of qualified training and the 

corresponding eligible hospital’s 

obligation to reimburse eligible partners 

applicable (in a timely manner) for the 

costs of such qualified training 

attributable to the partner and the 

mechanism for partner reimbursement. 

As outlined in the GNE Solicitation, 

applicant hospitals may partner with 

other hospitals in the Demonstration 

and we will support an expanded 

configuration of hospital relationships 

under certain circumstances. For more 

details, see the Solicitation, which is 

available on the Innovation Center Web 

site at http://www.innovations.cms.gov/ 

initiatives/GNE/index.html. 

II. Provisions of This Notice 

The CMS Innovation Center has 

received much interest and a large 

number of inquires about the GNE 

Demonstration announced on the CMS 

Web site and in the Federal Register. In 

response to requests from the 

community of potential applicants to 

allow for some additional time to 

prepare the proposals for participation 

in the Demonstration, and in light of our 

continued commitment to work in 

partnership with our stakeholders, the 

Innovation Center has modified the 

deadline for proposals so that the 

applications from eligible hospital 

applicants are due by the date specified 

in the DATES section of this notice. 

III. Information Collection 

Requirements 

In accordance with section 5509(a)(4) 

of the Affordable Care Act, this 

information collection requirement is 

not subject to the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995. Consequently, it need not 

be reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget under the 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES