52724 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 196 / Thursday, October 9, 1997 / Notices

The body of the abstract must be

organized in the following manner:

(1) A brief statement of purpose,

(2) A statement of methods used,

(3) A statement of results obtained,

and

(4) A statement of conclusions

reached.

Each presenter should submit a current

curriculum vitae with the abstract.

Interested persons who wish to speak

should submit a written notice of

participation including a name,

affiliation, address, phone number, and

summary of remarks. FDA will allocate

the time available for the hearing among

the persons who properly file notices of

their intent to make a presentation at the

meeting. If time permits, FDA may

allow additional presentations from

interested persons attending the meeting

who did not submit a written notice of

participation to make a presentation.

Dated: October 2, 1997.

William K. Hubbard,

Associate Commissioner for Policy

Coordination.

[FR Doc. 97–26707 Filed 10–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160–01–F

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services

Administration

National Vaccine Injury Compensation

Program: Excise Tax Revision and

Coverage of New Vaccines

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services

Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: On August 5, 1997, the

President signed Pub. L. 105–32, the

‘‘Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997,’’

containing amendments to revise the

excise tax structure to a flat rate of 75

cents per dose for each vaccine covered

under the National Vaccine Injury

Compensation Program (VICP). The

amendments also make effective the

coverage of three new vaccines under

the VICP.

The VICP, established by Subtitle 2 of

Title XXI of the Public Health Service

Act (the Act), provides a system of nofault compensation for certain

individuals who have been injured by

specific childhood vaccines. The

Vaccine Injury Table (the Table),

included in the Act, establishes

presumptions about causation of certain

illnesses and conditions which are used

by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to

adjudicate petitions. The Act provides

that a revision to the Table, based on the

addition of new vaccines under section

2114(e) of the Act, shall take effect upon

the effective date of a tax enacted to

provide funds for compensation for

injuries from vaccines that are added to

the Table. See section 13632(a)(3) of the

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of

1993, Pub. L. 103–66 enacted August 10,

1993.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 6, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas E. Balbier, Jr., Director, Division

of Vaccine Injury Compensation, Bureau

of Health Professions, (301) 443–6593.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

904(a) of the Taxpayer Relief Act of

1997 provides that the excise tax on all

covered vaccines is 75 cents per dose

and that combinations of vaccines are

subject to an excise tax which is the

sum of the amounts for each vaccine

included in the combination.

On February 20, 1997, a Final rule

was published in the Federal Register

(62 FR 7685) announcing the addition of

hepatitis B, Hib, and varicella vaccines

to the Table. The Final rule states in

§ 100.3(c)(2) that the inclusion of

hepatitis B, Hib, and varicella vaccines

and other new vaccines (Items VIII, IX,

X, XI and XII of the Table) will be

effective on the effective date of a tax

enacted to provide funds for

compensation paid with respect to such

vaccines.

Section 904(b) of the Taxpayer Relief

Act of 1997 provides for an excise tax

for these three new vaccines, effective

August 6, 1997, and this notice serves

as an announcement of such a tax.

Accordingly, petitions for compensation

for injuries or deaths related to hepatitis

B, Hib, and varicella vaccines may now

be filed under the VICP. In accordance

with section 2116(b) of the Act, for

injuries or deaths that occurred before

August 6, 1997, for these three vaccines,

petitions may be filed no later than

August 6, 1999, provided that the injury

or death occurred no earlier than August

6, 1989.

A document will be published in the

Federal Register to amend the CFR to

include a date certain (August 6, 1997)

in § 100.3(c), so that there will be no

uncertainty as to the coverage of these

three vaccines.

Dated: October 2, 1997.

Claude Earl Fox,

Acting Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–26706 Filed 10–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Indian Health Service

Alternate Method of Acquisition for

Health Care Services; Authorized by

the Federal Acquisition Regulations

AGENCY: Indian Health Service, HHS.

ACTION: General notice.

SUMMARY: The Indian Health Service

(IHS) issues this General Notice to

inform the public that IHS has adopted

the Rate Quotation as an alternate

acquisition method to establish

reimbursement rates for health care

services purchased by its Contract

Health Services Program.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ronald Freeman, Acting Director,

Division of Managed Care, Room 6A–55,

5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD

20857, (301) 443–3024 or Carol

Silverman, Acting Director, Division of

Acquisition and Grants Management,

Suite 450A, 12300 Twinbrook Parkway,

Rockville, MD 20857, (301) 443–5774.

(These are not toll-free numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The IHS

Contract Health Services program is

administered under regulations at 42

CFR 36.21 et seq. and services

purchased are governed by the Federal

Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Under

this program IHS purchases health care

services from hospitals, physicians, and

other health care facilities and providers

to supplement the IHS direct care

delivery system. The IHS last issued a

payment policy in 51 FR 23540 on June

30, 1986. This policy requires the IHS

Area Offices to enter into formal

agreements with providers that they

expect to use for health care services.

With certain specified exceptions in the

IHS Payment Policy, the formal

agreement must provide for

reimbursement of services at rates

which do not exceed prevailing

Medicare reimbursement rates

(including deductibles and coinsurance), and the IHS service units

will make patient referrals and procure

all its routine health care services from

providers with formal agreements.

The IHS issued a general notice in 56

FR 10566 on March 13, 1991 to inform

the public that the IHS was conducting

a pilot project in the IHS Portland Area.

The project was designed to determine

whether an alternative method of

acquisition for contract health services

would result in greater participation by

health care providers and lower costs to

IHS. The project was originally

scheduled to end on March 31, 1992,