60068 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 215 / Thursday, November 6, 1997 / Notices

Secretariat at the Commission’s

headquarters in accordance with 17 CFR

145.7 and 145.8.

Any person interested in submitting

written data, views, or arguments on the

proposed amendments, or with respect

to other materials submitted by the

MGE, should send such comments to

Jean A. Webb, Secretary, Commodity

Futures Trading Commission, Three

Lafayette Centre, 21st Street NW,

Washington, DC 20581 by the specified

date.

Issued in Washington, DC, on October 31,

1997.

John R. Mielke,

Acting Director.

[FR Doc. 97–29355 Filed 11–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant

Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs,

DOD.

ACTION: Notice.

In accordance with Section

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

Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the

Assistant Secretary of Defense for

Health Affairs announces the proposed

public information collection and seeks

public comment on the provisions

thereof. Comments are invited on: (a)

whether the proposed collection of

information is necessary for the proper

performance of the functions of the

agency, including whether the

information shall have practical utility;

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate

of the burden of the information

collection; (c) ways to enhance the

quality, utility, and clarity of the

information to be collected; and (d)

ways to minimize the burden of the

information collection on respondents,

including through the use of automated

collection techniques or other forms of

information technology.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all

comments received by January 5, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and

recommendations on the information

collection should be sent to TRICARE

Support Office, Program Development

Branch, U.S. Army Garrison,

Fitzsimons, ATTN: Tariq Shahid,

Aurora, CO 80045–6900.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request more information on this

proposed information collection, please

write to the above address or call

TRICARE Support Office, Program

Development Branch, at (303) 361–1401.

Title; Associated Form; and OMB

Number: Reimbursement Information,

Psychiatric Residential Treatment

Centers Serving Children and

Adolescents, TRICARE Form 771, OMB

Number 0704–0295.

Needs and Uses: The information

collection requirement is necessary to

obtain individual residential treatment

center (RTC) data that will be used in

calculating the prospective per diem

rates for new RTCs seeking certifications

under the TRICARE program.

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit; non-profit institutions.

Annual Burden Hours: 240.

Number of Respondents: 20.

Responses per Respondents: 1.

Average Burden per Response: 12

hours.

Frequency: On occasion.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Summary of Information Collection

Respondents are psychiatric

residential treatment centers (RTCs)

seeking certification under the TRICARE

program to provide needed services to

eligible children and adolescents. The

data collection instrument, i.e.,

TRICARE Form 771, will collect the

necessary reimbursement information

that will be used in calculating

prospective all-inclusive per diem rates

for new RTCs under the TRICARE

program. Based on current trends, it is

estimated that about 20 forms will be

completed and submitted to the

TRICARE program per fiscal year for

RTCs seeking certification under the

program.

The TRICARE Support Office (TSO),

formerly known as OCHAMPUS,

published a proposed rule on 4

December 1987, (52 FR 46098), and final

rule on 1 August 1988, (53 FR 28873),

in the Federal Register clarifying

participation requirements and

establishing a new reimbursement

system for payment of RTCs. These

amendments outlined the methodology

used in calculating the individual RTC

rates along with the capped amount.

The amendments also described the

data collection elements and responded

to 23 distinct categories of comments.

The TRICARE program will be

responsible for: (1) sending out the data

collection instrument (TRICARE Form

771) to all RTCs seeking certification

under the TRICARE program; (2)

answering all inquiries regarding the

data collection; (3) compiling and

analyzing the submitted data; (4)

following up on missing or incomplete

data; (5) calculating the individual

prospective all-inclusive per diem rates;

and (6) sending out RTC participation

agreements with the calculated rates.

The TRICARE’s failure to collect the

information will jeopardize fulfillment

of the program requirements and would

result in the agency’s inability to collect

the necessary data for establishment of

RTC rates. The agency’s inability to

establish prospective per diem rates

could also result in a reduction in

availability of RTCs for TRICARE

beneficiaries.

The prospective payment

methodology: (1) provides the potential

for control over rapidly increasing costs

for mental health care within the

Department of Defense; (2) ensures that

TRICARE beneficiaries are not subject to

exaggerated or unjustified costs for RTC

care solely because of the TRICARE

entitlement; and (3) provides for a rate

of reimbursement for all participating

RTCs which reflects a reasonable

amount consistent with rates charged by

their peers nationally and with

reimbursement they are accepting from

other third-party payers.

The use of improved information

technology has been a consideration in

capturing RTC charge data necessary to

calculate new rates; however, this

would create an excessive

administrative burden on the agency for

the relatively small number of providers

affected by the request. RTCs represent

less than 0.13 percent of TRICARE

institutional providers and less than

0.04 percent of TRICARE individual

professional providers. The agency

would have to make major

modifications to its payment records

and data files in order to retrieve this

information.

In the data collection form design, we

have made every effort to eliminate any

duplication. The form consists of two

major categories of data collection: (1)

institutional per diem rates; and (2)

additional ancillary or professional

charges not included in the per diem

rates. All data information systems have

been queried to determine if there was

any duplication of data collection

elements. None of the routine data

collection reports maintained by the

agency have the information formatted

in a way that can be used to calculate

the new RTC rates.

While TSO generates RTC reports,

these reports do not include

professional claims which are billed

separately from the institutional

component. Since the professional

charges arenot married up with

institutional charges, an all-inclusive

rate cannot be determined under the

existing reporting system. The marrying
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 215 / Thursday, November 6, 1997 / Notices 60069

up of claims would require extensive

reprogramming of the current payment

system reports and would probably

result in questionable data. Even if TSO

could modify its current reporting

system, it would only provide one of the

data components necessary for

establishing the RTC rates. The rates for

other third-party payers would remain

inaccessible under the TSO reporting

system. Other third-party information is

critical in establishing the most

favorable rate for the RTC. The RTC is

the only one that can provide other

third-party information.

The data collection form is simplistic

in design to minimize administrative

burden on the RTCs. The requested

information should already be

maintained by the facility for normal

operation. It is anticipated that it should

take one person 8 to 10 hours to prepare

the data, and an additional 2 to 4 hours

if TRICARE should have follow-up

inquiries regarding their data

submission. TSO or the TRICARE

contractor staff will be available to

answer any questions that the RTCs may

have regarding completion of the form.

The issue of confidentiality has been

considered. The data submitted by RTCs

will be kept in strict confidence and

will not be accessible to competitors.

The only information accessible to the

general public will be the TRICARE allinclusive rates calculated for each RTC.

These rates will appear in the TRICARE/

CHAMPUS Policy Manual and may be

released under the Freedom of

Information Act.

The information requested is financial

in nature and may be considered private

or confidential in a business sense.

Specific knowledge of a RTC’s financial

position may create an unfair advantage

for its competitors. However, the

information requested is necessary for

calculating the individual prospective

all-inclusive per diem rates. The RTCs

are only being asked to provide those

data (financial) elements used directly

in the reimbursement formula. They

have also been assured that facility

specific information will be kept

confidential. The instruction sheet and

cover letter will justify collection of the

information and give a detailed

explanation of the data element

requirements.

The number of one-time respondents

is 20. It is estimated that a maximum of

12 hours will be required to complete

the form since the requested

information should already be

maintained by the facility for normal

operation. Most of the administrative

burden will be associated with the

reformatting of existing financial

information. The burden of collecting

the data will be dependent on the type

of reporting system in use. Facilities

which maintain their financial records

on computers will be able to retrieve the

requested information faster than those

with manual systems. The use of

computerized data may cut the

reporting time in half (6 hours). Larger

RTCs are more likely to have

sophisticated reporting systems than

smaller facilities. However, this is

probably more the exception than the

rule with the advent of more reasonably

priced ADP systems for small

businesses. The total one-time reporting

burden is estimated to be 240 hours.

Dated: October 31, 1997.

L.M. Bynum,

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison

Officer, Department of Defense.

[FR Doc. 97–29309 Filed 11–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 5000–04–M

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Transmittal No. 98–04]

36(b)(1) Arms Sales Notification

AGENCY: Defense Security Assistance

Agency, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Defense is

publishing the unclassified text of a

section 36(b)(1) arms sales notification.

This is published to fulfill the

requirements of section 155 of Public

Law 104–164 dated 21 July 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. J. Hurd, DSAA/COMPT/RM, (703)

604–6575.

The following is a copy of a letter to

the Speaker of the House of

Representatives, Transmittal 98–04,

with attached transmittal and policy

justification pages.

Dated: October 31, 1997.

L.M. Bynum,

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison

Officer, Department of Defense.

BILLING CODE 5000–04–M