66870 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 245 / Monday, December 22, 1997 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Health Care Policy and

Research

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request

AGENCY: Agency for Health Care Policy

and Research, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice announces that

the Agency for Health Care Policy and

Research (AHCPR) is planning to

request the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) to allow a proposed

information collection project of

‘‘Medical Expenditure Panel Survey—

Insurance Component (MEPS–IC) for

1998 and 1999.’’ In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub.

L. 104–13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)),

AHCPR invites the public to comment

on this proposed information collection.

This proposed information collection

was previously published in the Federal

Register on October 6, 1997 and allowed

60 days for public comment. As a result,

public comments were received. The

purpose of this notice is to allow an

additional 30 days for public comment.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received by January 21, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be submitted to the OMB Desk Officer

at the following address: Allison Eydt,

Human Resources and Housing Branch,

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, OMB; New Executive Office

Building, Room 10235; Washington,

20503.

All comments will become a matter of

public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ruth A. Celtnieks, AHCPR Reports

Clearance Officer, (301) 594–1406, ext.

1497.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Project

‘‘Medical Expenditure Panel Survey—

Insurance Component (MEPS–IC) for

1998 and 1999.’’

The AHCPR plans to continue

collection of the MEPS–IC. This survey

collects information from employers

(including public and private sectors)

and other health insurance providers.

The survey was first conducted in 1997.

The MEPS–IC is the integration of two

previous surveys which collected

similar information from two different

samples. The two surveys were:

1. The 1994 National Employer Health

Insurance Survey (NEHIS) sponsored by

AHCPR, the National Center for Health

Statistics (NCHS) and the Health Care

Financing Administration (HCFA). The

NEHIS had a sample drawn from (1) a

list of private sector establishments, the

Dunn Market Identifiers, provided by

Dunn and Bradstreet, a major supplier

of business information, (2) a list of all

government entities, Federal, State and

local, provided by the Census Bureau,

and (3) a list of self-employed

individuals provided by the NCHS; and

2. The 1987 Health Insurance Plans

Survey (HIPS) sponsored by AHCPR’s

predecessor, the National Center for

Health Statistics Research. The HIPS

sample was a sample of employers and

other health insurance providers

generated from the 1987 National

Medical Expenditure Survey, a

household survey similar to the MEPS–

HC.

As a result, the sample for the MEPS–

IC is made up of two components:

1. A list sample of employers selected

from three sample frames, private

sector, government entities and selfemployed individuals, available from

the Bureau of the Census; and

2. a sample of employers and other

health insurance providers identified by

respondents to the MEPS-Household

Component (MEPS–HC). The MEPS–HC

is an annual household survey designed

to collect medical expenditures and

ancillary information for individuals.

Data will be produced in two forms:

(1) Files containing employer

information from the list sample of

selected employers; and (2) files

containing calendar years 1997 and

1998 insurance data collected in 1998

and 1999 from employers and linked to

information from the household

respondents of the 1997 and 1998

MEPS–HC surveys.

The data are intended to be used for

purposes such as:

• Generatng national and State

estimates of employer health care

offerings;

• Producing aggregate data on

national and State estimates of spending

on employer-sponsored health

insurance for analyzing results of

national and State health care policy

and providing information to guide

future policy;

• Supplying data to model the

demand for health insurance; and

• Providing a valuable source of

information concerning household

responses regarding choices of health

plans and costs and benefits of these

plans, when pooled with data from the

MEPS–HC.

These data provide the basis for

researchers to address significant

questions for employers and

policymakers alike.

Method of Collection

The data will be collected using a

combination of modes. AHCPR intends

to first contact the employers by

telephone. This contact will provide

information on the availability of health

insurance from the employer and

essential persons to contact. Based upon

this information, AHCPR will send a

mail questionnaire to employers and

others identified by employers. In order

to assure high response rates, AHCPR

will follow-up with a second mailing at

an acceptable time interval, followed by

a telephone call to collect data from

those who have not responded by mail.

Data collected from each employer

will include a description of the

business (e.g., size, industry) and

descriptions of health insurance plans

available, plan enrollments, total plan

costs and costs to employees.

For employers that can be matched to

the MEPS–HC respondents, data will

also be collected indicating the actual

plan selected by the MEPS–HC

respondent and the plan costs.

As part of the process, for larger

employers with high burdens, such as

State employers and large firms, AHCPR

will, if needed, perform personal visits

and do customized collection, such as,

acceptance of data in computerized

formats. Annual burden estimates

follow:

Initial Number of Respondents:

40,000.

Number of Surveys Per Respondent: 1.

Average Burden Per Respondent: .5

hour.

Estimated Annual Total Burden:

20,000 hours.

Request for Comments

Comments are invited on: (a) The

necessity of the proposed collection; (b)

the accuracy of the Agency’s estimate of

burden of the proposed collection of

information; (c) ways to enhance the

quality, utility, and clarity of the

information to be collected; and (d)

ways to minimize the burden of the

collection of information upon the

respondents, including the use of

automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

Comments submitted in response to this

notice will be summarized and/or

included in the request for OMB

approval of this information collection.

Copies of these proposed collection

plans and instruments can be obtained

from the AHCPR Reports Clearance

Officer (see above).
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 245 / Monday, December 22, 1997 / Notices 66871

Dated: December 15, 1997.

John M. Eisenberg,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–33253 Filed 12–19–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Health Care Policy and

Research

Notice of Assessment of Medical

Technology

The Agency for Health Care Policy

and Research (AHCPR), through the

Center for Practice and Technology

Assessment (CPTA), announces that it is

initiating an assessment of the

effectiveness of Prostate-specific antigen

(PSA) testing in patients with benign

prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

The AHCPR is requesting information

on the utility, and costs associated with

the use of PSA testing and the specific

indications for which this testing is

appropriate. The AHCPR also requests

information on patient selection criteria.

The assessment consists of a synthesis

of information found in published

literature and obtained from appropriate

organizations in the private sector,

Public Health Service (PHS) agencies

and others in the Federal Government.

AHCPR assessments are conducted in

accordance with sections 904(b) and (d)

of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 299a–2(b) and

(d)). The assessment is based on the

most current knowledge concerning the

clinical effectiveness and appropriate

uses of the technology being evaluated.

The information being sought by this

notice is a review and evaluation of

past, current, and planned research

related to this technology, as well as a

bibliography of published, controlled

clinical trials and other well-designed

clinical studies. Information related to

the characteristics of the patient

population most likely to benefit from

PSA testing as well as information on

the clinical acceptability, effectiveness,

and the extent of use of this technology,

is also being sought. Following

completion of the assessment, a

recommendation will be formulated to

assist the Health Care Financing

Administration (HCFA) in establishing

Medicare coverage policy.

The AHCPR is interested in receiving

information which would help in the

evaluation or review of the technology

as described above. To enable the

interested scientific community to

evaluate the information and analysis

included in the assessment, AHCPR will

discuss in the assessment only those

data and analyses for which a source(s)

can be cited. Respondents are therefore

encouraged to include with their

submissions a written consent

permitting AHCPR ‘‘to cite and make

public the sources of the data and the

comments provided’’. Otherwise, in

accordance with the confidentiality

statute governing information collected

by AHCPR, 42 U.S.C. 299a–1(c), no

information received will be published

or disclosed which could identify an

entity or individual supplying the

information or any individual or entity

described in the information. In

addition, clearly market proprietary

information may be kept confidential in

accordance with the Freedom of

Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4).

Any person or group wishing to

provide AHCPR with information

relevant to this assessment should do so

in writing no later than March 23, 1998

to: Douglas B. Kamerow, M.D., M.P.H.,

Director, Center for Practice and

Technology Assessment, Agency for

Health Care Policy and Research, 6000

Executive Boulevard, Suite 310,

Rockville, MD 20852, Phone: (301) 594–

4015.

Dated: December 15, 1997.

John M. Eisenberg,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–33252 Filed 12–19–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention

[Number 816]

Individual Grants for Extramural Injury

Research for Primary Prevention of

Unintentional Injuries, Acute Care,

Disability Prevention, and

Biomechanics; Notice of Availability of

Funds for Fiscal Year 1998

Introduction

The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC) announces that

applications are being accepted for

Injury Prevention and Control Research

Grants for fiscal year (FY) 1998.

CDC is committed to achieving the

health promotion and disease

prevention objectives of Healthy People

2000, a national activity to reduce

morbidity and mortality and improve

the quality of life. This announcement

is related to the priority area of

Unintentional Injuries. (To order a copy

of Healthy People 2000, see the Section

Where to Obtain Additional

Information.)

Authority

This program is authorized under

Sections 301, 391–394 of the Public

Health Service Act (42 USC 241, 280b–

280b–3), as amended. Program

regulations are set forth in Title 42 CFR

Part 52.

Smoke-Free Workplace

CDC strongly encourages all grant and

cooperative agreement recipients to

provide a smoke-free workplace and to

promote the non-use of all tobacco

products, and Public Law 103–227, the

Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits

smoking in certain facilities that receive

Federal funds in which education,

library, day care, health care, and early

childhood development services are

provided to children.

Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants include all

nonprofit and for-profit organizations.

Thus State and local health departments

and State and local governmental

agencies, universities, colleges, research

institutions, and other public and

private organizations, including small,

minority and/or woman-owned

businesses are eligible for these research

grants. Current holders of CDC injury

control research projects are eligible to

apply.

Note: An organization described in section

501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of

1986 which engages in lobbying activities

shall not be eligible to receive Federal funds

constituting an award, a grant, contract, loan,

or any other form.

Availability of Funds

Approximately $2.7 million is

available for FY 1998 injury research

grants that include funding for projects

that address primary prevention of

unintentional injuries (home and

leisure, and motor vehicle relatedinjuries), acute care, the prevention of

secondary conditions in persons with

disabilities, and biomechanics.

Approximately $1,800,000 is available

to support 6–8 projects that address

primary prevention of unintentional

injuries (home and leisure, and motor

vehicle related-injuries), acute care, and

the prevention of secondary conditions

in persons with disabilities. Awards

will be made for a 12-month budget

period within a project period not to

exceed three years. The maximum

funding level per year will not exceed

$300,000 (including both direct and

indirect costs). Applications that exceed

the funding cap of $300,000 will be

excluded from the competition and

returned to the applicant.

Approximately $900,000 is available

to support 3–5 projects that address