Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 126 / Friday, June 29, 2018 / Notices 30821 

record when the rule is published. 

Should it be necessary to cancel the 

meeting due to inclement weather or 

other emergencies, VA will take 

available measures to notify registered 

participants. 

Agenda 

08:00–09:00 Arrival/Check-In 

09:00–12:00 Morning Public Meeting 

Session 

12:00–13:00 Lunch Break (Note: Meals 

will not be provided by VA.) 

13:00–17:00 Afternoon Public Meeting 

Session 

17:00 Adjourn 

Public Meeting Topics 

Pursuant to section 1703B(c) of title 

38, U.S.C., as added by section 104(a) of 

Public Law 115–182, (the VA MISSION 

Act), VA requests information that will 

assist in developing the access 

standards required by section 

1703B(a)(1). This includes information 

regarding the development of these 

access standards, including but not 

limited to information on the use of 

access standards for the design of health 

plan provider networks, referrals from 

network providers to out-of-network 

providers, the appeals process for 

exemptions from benefit limits to out-ofnetwork providers, the existence of 

standards for appointment wait times, 

the use of travel distance for 

establishing service areas, the 

development or use of guidelines to 

refer patients to out of system providers, 

and the measurement of performance 

against regulatory standards. 

Specifically, VA requests information 

from health plans and systems related to 

the below: 

1. Do health plans use internal access 

standards for the design of provider 

networks and the application of in 

network/out of network benefits that are 

more stringent than regulatory standards 

(time or distance of travel, appointment 

wait times, provider/member ratios)? If 

so, what are these internal standards? 

How does the health plan measure 

performance against regulatory and 

internal access standards? How does the 

health plan respond to findings when 

access standards are not being met? Are 

current regulatory access standards costeffective while maintaining quality 

standards? Do health plans have a 

process to handle routine requests from 

members or referring providers for 

exemptions to benefit limits when 

members seek out of network care or a 

lower tier provider? 

2. Do health plans allow for appeals 

by providers or members to request 

exemptions from benefit limits related 

to out of network care or care by a lower 

tier provider? Is external review allowed 

for such appeals? 

3. What are health plan practices 

regarding internal, regulatory, and/or 

accreditation standards for appointment 

wait times, including variance by 

specialty or type of service? How does 

the health plan use travel distance or 

time and/or provider-to-population 

ratios in deciding which geographic 

areas to consider as primary or 

secondary service areas? 

4. Are clinicians within the health 

system given guidelines or rules on 

when to refer patients to out of system 

providers? For example, are clinicians 

encouraged to refer out of system if insystem wait times are longer than 

standard, travel time or distance to an 

in-system provider is too long, the 

patient’s ability to travel is 

compromised or the frequency of 

treatment makes travel to an in-network 

provider difficult? 

Signing Authority 

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or 

designee, approved this document and 

authorized the undersigned to sign and 

submit the document to the Office of the 

Federal Register for publication 

electronically as an official document of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Jacquelyn Hayes-Byrd, Acting Chief of 

Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs, 

approved this document on June 25, 

2018, for publication. 

Dated: June 25, 2018. 

Jeffrey M. Martin, 

Impact Analyst, Office of Regulation Policy 

& Management, Office of the Secretary, 

Department of Veterans Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2018–13951 Filed 6–28–18; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

VA National Academic Affiliations 

Council, Notice of Meeting 

The Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA) gives notice under the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act that the VA 

National Academic Affiliations Council 

(NAAC) will meet via conference call on 

July 11, 2018, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 

p.m. EST. The meeting is open to the 

public. 

The purpose of the Council is to 

advise the Secretary on matters affecting 

partnerships between VA and its 

academic affiliates. 

On July 11, 2018, the Council will 

explore the current modernization effort 

within the Veterans Health 

Administration (VHA); receive a 

briefing on the VHA electronic health 

record modernization program; discuss 

provisions of the recently enacted 

Public Law 115–182 that impacts VA’s 

clinical education mission; and receive 

updates on the waiver process for VA 

employees engaging in teaching 

activities with for-profit educational 

institutions; the activities of the 

Council’s Subcommittee on Diversity 

and Inclusion; the June 13, 2018 

Roundtable of Graduate Medical 

Education hosted by the House 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; and the 

recent efforts of the VA Strategic 

Academic Advisory Council. The 

Council will receive public comments 

from 11:50 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST. 

Interested persons may attend and/or 

present oral statements to the Council. 

The dial in number to attend the 

conference call is: 1–800–767–1750. At 

the prompt, enter access code 66983 

then press #. Individuals seeking to 

present oral statements are invited to 

submit a 1–2 page summary of their 

comments at the time of the meeting for 

inclusion in the official meeting record. 

Oral presentations will be limited to five 

minutes or less, depending on the 

number of participants. Interested 

parties may also provide written 

comments for review by the Council 

prior to the meeting or at any time, by 

email to Steve.Trynosky@va.gov, or by 

mail to Stephen K. Trynosky J.D., 

M.P.H., M.M.A.S., Designated Federal 

Officer, Office of Academic Affiliations 

(10A2D), 810 Vermont Avenue NW, 

Washington, DC 20420. Any member of 

the public wishing to participate or 

seeking additional information should 

contact Mr. Trynosky via email or by 

phone at (202) 461–6723. 

Dated: June 26, 2018. 

Jelessa M. Burney, 

Federal Advisory Committee Management 

Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14002 Filed 6–28–18; 8:45 am] 

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