Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 245 / Monday, December 22, 1997 / Proposed Rules 66967

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

26 CFR Part 54

[Reg–109704–97]

RIN 1545–AV12

HIPAA Mental Health Parity Act

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS),

Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking

by cross-reference to temporary

regulations.

SUMMARY: Elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register, the IRS is issuing

temporary regulations relating to mental

health parity requirements imposed on

group health plans. These requirements

were added to the Internal Revenue

Code by section 1532 of the Taxpayer

Relief Act of 1997. The IRS is issuing

the temporary regulations at the same

time that the Pension and Welfare

Benefits Administration of the U.S.

Department of Labor and the Health

Care Financing Administration of the

U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services are issuing substantially

similar interim final regulations relating

to mental health parity requirements

added by the Mental Health Parity Act

of 1996 to the Employee Retirement

Income Security Act of 1974 and the

Public Health Service Act. The

temporary regulations provide guidance

to employers and group health plans

relating to the new mental health parity

requirements. The text of those

temporary regulations also serves as the

text of these proposed regulations.

DATES: Written comments and requests

for a public hearing must be received by

March 23, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send submissions to:

CC:DOM:CORP:R (REG–109704–97),

room 5226, Internal Revenue Service,

POB 7604, Ben Franklin Station,

Washington, DC 20044. Submissions

may be hand-delivered between the

hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to:

CC:DOM:CORP:R (REG–109704–97),

Courier’s Desk, Internal Revenue

Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW,

Washington, DC.

Alternatively, taxpayers may submit

comments electronically via the Internet

by selecting the ‘‘Tax Regs’’ option on

the IRS Home Page, or by submitting

comments directly to the IRS Internet

site at: http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/

taxlregs/comments.html

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Concerning the regulations, Russ

Weinheimer, (202) 622–4695;

concerning submissions or to request a

hearing, Mike Slaughter, 202–622–7180.

These are not toll-free numbers.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Paperwork Reduction Act

The collection of information

referenced in this notice of proposed

rulemaking has been submitted to the

Office of Management and Budget for

review in accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. 3507(d)).

An agency may not conduct or

sponsor, and a person is not required to

respond to, a collection of information

unless it displays a valid control

number assigned by the Office of

Management and Budget.

The collection of information is in

§ 54.9812-1T (see the temporary

regulations published elsewhere in this

issue of the Federal Register). The

collection of information is required if

a plan wishes to avail itself of an

exemption provided under the statute.

The likely respondents are business or

other for-profit institutions, nonprofit

institutions, small businesses or

organizations, and Taft-Hartley trusts.

Responses to this collection of

information are required in order to

obtain the benefit of being exempt from

the mental health parity requirement.

Books or records relating to a

collection of information must be

retained as long as their contents may

become material in the administration

of any internal revenue law. Generally

tax returns and tax return information

are confidential, as required by 26

U.S.C. 6103.

Comments on the collection of

information should be sent to the Office

of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk

Officer for the Department of the

Treasury, Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC

20503, with copies to the Internal

Revenue Service, Attn: IRS Reports

Clearance Officer, T:FP, Washington, DC

20224. Comments on the collection of

information should be received by

February 20, 1998. Comments are

specifically requested concerning:

—Whether the proposed collection of

information is necessary for the

proper performance of the functions

of the Internal Revenue Service,

including whether the information

will have practical utility;

—The accuracy of the estimated burden

associated with the proposed

collection of information (see the

preamble to the temporary regulations

published elsewhere in this issue of

the Federal Register);

—How to enhance the quality, utility,

and clarity of the information to be

collected;

—How to minimize the burden of

complying with the proposed

collection of information, including

the application of automated

collection techniques or other forms

of information technology; and

—Estimates of capital or start-up costs

and costs of operation, maintenance,

and purchase of services to provide

information.

Background

The temporary regulations published

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal

Register add § 54.9812–1T to the

Miscellaneous Excise Tax Regulations.

These regulations are being published as

part of a joint rulemaking with the

Department of Labor and the

Department of Health and Human

Services (the joint rulemaking).

The text of those temporary

regulations also serves as the text of

these proposed regulations. The

preamble to the temporary regulations

explains the temporary regulations.

Special Analyses

Pursuant to sections 603(a) and 605(b)

of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, it is

hereby certified that the collection of

information referenced in this notice of

proposed rulemaking (see § 54.9812–1T

of the temporary regulations published

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal

Register) will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. Employers

with 50 or fewer employees are not

subject to the law. Moreover, even for

employers that are subject to the mental

health parity requirements, no

collection of information is required

unless they qualify for and claim the 1%

increased cost exemption. Even for

employers subject to the law who claim

the exemption, the estimated time for

each response is 2 minutes. Thus, for

example, an employer with 100

employees in its group health plan that

claimed the 1% increased cost

exemption, that took advantage of the

three-month transitional period

provided in the temporary regulations

and that received 10 requests to

examine the assumptions used in

claiming the exemption would incur a

total one-time burden of less than 4

hours. At an estimated cost of $11 per

hour, this would result in a one-time

cost of less than $44. This is not a

significant economic impact.

This regulation is not subject to the

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

because the regulation is an interpretive

regulation. For further information and
66968 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 245 / Monday, December 22, 1997 / Proposed Rules

for analyses relating to the joint

rulemaking, see the preamble to the

joint rulemaking. Pursuant to section

7805(f) of the Internal Revenue Code,

this notice of proposed rulemaking will

be submitted to the Chief Counsel for

Advocacy of the Small Business

Administration for comment on its

impact on small business.

Comments and Requests for a Public

Hearing

Before these proposed regulations are

adopted as final regulations,

consideration will be given to any

written comments (a signed original and

eight (8) copies) that are submitted

timely to the IRS. All comments will be

available for public inspection and

copying. A public hearing may be

scheduled if requested in writing by a

person that timely submits written

comments. If a public hearing is

scheduled, notice of the date, time, and

place for the hearing will be published

in the Federal Register.

Drafting Information

The principal author of these

proposed regulations is Russ

Weinheimer, Office of the Chief

Counsel, Employee Benefits and Exempt

Organizations. However, other

personnel from the IRS and Treasury

Department participated in their

development. The proposed regulations,

as well as the temporary regulations,

have been developed in coordination

with personnel from the U.S.

Department of Labor and U.S.

Department of Health and Human

Services.

List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 54

Excise taxes, Health insurance,

Pensions, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Proposed Amendments to the

Regulations

Accordingly, 26 CFR part 54 is

proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 54—PENSION EXCISE TAXES

Paragraph 1. The authority citation

for part 54 is amended by adding an

entry in numerical order to read as

follows:

Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * *

Section 54.9812–1 is also issued

under 26 U.S.C. 9833. * * *

Par. 2. Section 54.9812–1 is added to

read as follows:

§ 54.9812–1 Parity in the application of

certain limits to mental health benefits.

[The text of this proposed section is

the same as the text of § 54.9812–1T

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register].

Michael P. Dolan,

Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

[FR Doc. 97–33263 Filed 12–19–97; 8:45 am]

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