19288 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 62 / Friday, March 30, 2012 / Notices 

the Federal Register at 76 FR 81942, on 

December 29, 2011. No comments were 

received. 

Public comments are particularly 

invited on: Whether this collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of functions of the Federal 

Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and 

whether it will have practical utility; 

whether our estimate of the public 

burden of this collection of information 

is accurate, and based on valid 

assumptions and methodology; ways to 

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 

of the information to be collected; and 

ways in which we can minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on those who are to respond, through 

the use of appropriate technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

April 30, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments 

identified by Information Collection 

9000–0010, Progress Payments, by any 

of the following methods: 

• Regulations.gov: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Submit comments 

via the Federal eRulemaking portal by 

inputting ‘‘Information Collection 9000– 

0010, Progress Payments’’ under the 

heading ‘‘Enter Keyword or ID’’ and 

selecting ‘‘Search’’. Select the link 

‘‘Submit a Comment’’ that corresponds 

with ‘‘Information Collection 9000– 

0010, Progress Payments’’. Follow the 

instructions provided at the ‘‘Submit a 

Comment’’ screen. Please include your 

name, company name (if any), and 

‘‘Information Collection 9000–0010, 

Progress Payments’’ on your attached 

document. 

• Fax: 202–501–4067. 

• Mail: General Services 

Administration, Regulatory Secretariat 

(MVCB), 1275 First Street NE., 

Washington, DC 20417. ATTN: Hada 

Flowers/IC 9000–0010, Progress 

Payments. 

Instructions: Please submit comments 

only and cite Information Collection 

9000–0010, Progress Payments, in all 

correspondence related to this 

collection. All comments received will 

be posted without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal and/or business confidential 

information provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Edward Chambers, Procurement 

Analyst, Federal Acquisition Policy 

Division, at (202) 501–3221 or 

Edward.chambers@gsa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose 

Certain Federal contracts provide for 

progress payments to be made to the 

contractor during performance of the 

contract. Pursuant to FAR clause 

52.232–16 ‘‘Progress Payments,’’ 

contractors are required to request 

progress payments on Standard Form 

1443, ‘‘Contractor’s Request for Progress 

Payment,’’ or an agency approved 

electronic equivalent. Additionally, 

contractors may be required to submit 

reports, certificates, financial 

statements, and other pertinent 

information, reasonably requested by 

the Contracting Officer. The contractual 

requirement for submission of reports, 

certificates, financial statements and 

other pertinent information is necessary 

for protection of the Government against 

financial loss through the making of 

progress payments. 

B. Annual Reporting Burden 

Respondents: 27,000. 

Responses per Respondent: 32. 

Annual Responses: 864,000. 

Hours per Response: .55. 

Total Burden Hours: 475,200. 

Obtaining Copies of Proposals: 

Requesters may obtain a copy of the 

information collection documents from 

the General Services Administration, 

Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 

First Street NE., Washington, DC 20417, 

telephone (202) 501–4755. Please cite 

OMB Control No. 9000–0010, Progress 

Payments, in all correspondence. 

Dated: March 20, 2012. 

Laura Auletta, 

Director, Office of Governmentwide 

Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition 

Policy, Office of Governmentwide Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7655 Filed 3–29–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–4164–PN] 

Medicare Program; Renewal of 

Deeming Authority of the Utilization 

Review Accreditation Commission for 

Medicare Advantage Health 

Maintenance Organizations and Local 

Preferred Provider Organizations 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicare Services (CMS), HHS. 

ACTION: Proposed notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces our 

proposal to renew the Medicare 

Advantage ‘‘deeming authority’’ of the 

Utilization Review Accreditation 

Commission (URAC) for Health 

Maintenance Organizations and 

Preferred Provider Organizations for a 

term of 6 years. This new term of 

approval would begin May 26, 2012 and 

end May 25, 2018. This notice 

announces a 30-day period for public 

comments on the renewal of the 

application. 

DATES: To be assured consideration, 

comments must be received at one of 

the addresses provided below, no later 

than 5 p.m. on April 30, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: In commenting, please refer 

to file code CMS–4164–PN. Because of 

staff and resource limitations, we cannot 

accept comments by facsimile (FAX) 

transmission. 

You may submit comments in one of 

four ways (please choose only one of the 

ways listed): 

1. Electronically. You may submit 

electronic comments on this regulation 

to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 

the ‘‘Submit a comment’’ instructions. 

2. By regular mail. You may mail 

written comments to the following 

address ONLY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, Department of 

Health and Human Services, Attention: 

CMS–4164–PN, P.O. Box 8016, 

Baltimore, MD 21244–8016. 

Please allow sufficient time for mailed 

comments to be received before the 

close of the comment period. 

3. By express or overnight mail. You 

may send written comments to the 

following address ONLY: Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services, 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, Attention: CMS–4164–PN, 

Mail Stop C4–26–05, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244–1850. 

4. By hand or courier. If you prefer, 

you may deliver (by hand or courier) 

your written comments before the close 

of the comment period to either of the 

following addresses: 

a. For delivery in Washington, DC— 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services, Department of Health and 

Human Services, Room 445–G, Hubert 

H. Humphrey Building, 200 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20201. 

(Because access to the interior of the 

Hubert H. Humphrey Building is not 

readily available to persons without 

Federal government identification, 

commenters are encouraged to leave 

their comments in the CMS drop slots 

located in the main lobby of the 

building. A stamp-in clock is available 

for persons wishing to retain a proof of 

filing by stamping in and retaining an 

extra copy of the comments being filed.) 

b. For delivery in Baltimore, MD— 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 62 / Friday, March 30, 2012 / Notices 19289 

Services, Department of Health and 

Human Services, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244–1850. 

If you intend to deliver your 

comments to the Baltimore address, 

please call telephone number (410) 786– 

7195 in advance to schedule your 

arrival with one of our staff members. 

Comments mailed to the addresses 

indicated as appropriate for hand or 

courier delivery may be delayed and 

received after the comment period. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Caroline Baker, (410) 786–0116 or Edgar 

Gallardo, (410) 786–0361. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Inspection of Public Comments: All 

comments received before the close of 

the comment period are available for 

viewing by the public, including any 

personally identifiable or confidential 

business information that is included in 

a comment. We post all comments 

received before the close of the 

comment period on the following Web 

site as soon as possible after they have 

been received: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the search 

instructions on that Web site to view 

public comments. 

Comments received timely will also 

be available for public inspection as 

they are received, generally beginning 

approximately 3 weeks after publication 

of a document, at the headquarters of 

the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services, 7500 Security Boulevard, 

Baltimore, Maryland 21244, Monday 

through Friday of each week from 8:30 

a.m. to 4 p.m. To schedule an 

appointment to view public comments, 

phone 1–800–743–3951. 

I. Background 

Under the Medicare program, eligible 

beneficiaries may receive covered 

services through a Medicare Advantage 

(MA) organization that contracts with 

CMS. The regulations specifying the 

Medicare requirements that must be met 

for a Medicare Advantage Organization 

(MAO) to enter into a contract with 

CMS are located at 42 CFR part 422. 

These regulations implement Part C of 

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act 

(the Act), which specifies the services 

that an MAO must provide and the 

requirements that the organization must 

meet to be an MA contractor. Other 

relevant sections of the Act are Parts A 

and B of Title XVIII and Part A of Title 

XI pertaining to the provision of 

services by Medicare certified providers 

and suppliers. Generally, for an entity to 

be an MA organization, the organization 

must be licensed by the State as a risk 

bearing organization as set forth in part 

422. 

As a method of assuring compliance 

with certain Medicare requirements, an 

MA organization may choose to become 

accredited by a CMS approved 

accrediting organization (AO). By virtue 

of its accreditation by a CMS-approved 

AO, the MA organization can be 

‘‘deemed’’ compliant in one or more of 

six requirements set forth in section 

1852(e)(4)(B) of the Act. For CMS to 

recognize an AO’s accreditation 

program as establishing an MA plan’s 

compliance with our requirements, the 

AO must prove to CMS that their 

standards are at least as stringent as 

Medicare requirements. MA 

organizations that are licensed as health 

maintenance organizations (HMOs) or 

preferred provider organizations (PPOs) 

and are accredited by an approved 

accrediting organization may receive, at 

their request, ‘‘deemed’’ status for CMS 

requirements with respect to the 

following six MA criteria: Quality 

Improvement; Antidiscrimination; 

Access to Services; Confidentiality and 

Accuracy of Enrollee Records; 

Information on Advanced Directives; 

and Provider Participation Rules. (See 

§ 422.156(b)). At this time, recognition 

of accreditation does not include the 

Part D areas of review set out at 

§ 423.165(b). AOs that apply for MA 

deeming authority are generally 

recognized by the health care industry 

as entities that accredit HMOs and 

PPOs. As we specify at 

§ 422.157(b)(2)(ii) the term for which an 

AO may be approved by CMS may not 

exceed 6 years. For continuing approval, 

the AO must apply to CMS to renew 

their ‘‘deeming authority’’ for a 

subsequent approval period. 

The Utilization Review Accreditation 

Commission (URAC) was approved as a 

CMS approved accreditation 

organization for MA deeming of HMOs 

on May 26, 2006, and that term will 

expire on May 26, 2012. On December 

9, 2011, URAC submitted an application 

to renew its deeming authority. On that 

same date, URAC submitted materials 

requested from CMS which included 

updates and/or changes to items set out 

in Federal regulations at § 422.158(a) 

that are prerequisites for receiving 

approval of its accreditation program 

from CMS, and which were furnished to 

CMS by URAC as a part of their renewal 

applications for HMOs and PPOs. 

II. Provisions of the Proposed Notice 

The purpose of this notice is to notify 

the public of URAC’s request to renew 

its Medicare Advantage ‘‘deeming 

authority’’ for HMOs and PPOs. URAC 

submitted all the necessary materials 

(including its standards and monitoring 

protocol) to enable us to make a 

determination concerning its request for 

approval as an accreditation 

organization for CMS. This renewal 

application was determined to be 

complete on February 6, 2012. Under 

section 1852(e)(4) of the Act and 

§ 422.158 (Federal review of accrediting 

organizations), our review and 

evaluation of URAC will be conducted 

in accordance with our regulations, and 

will include but not necessarily be 

limited to the following components: 

A. Components of the Review Process 

• The types of MA plans that it would 

review as part of its accreditation 

process. 

• A detailed comparison of the 

organization’s accreditation 

requirements and standards with the 

Medicare requirements (for example, a 

crosswalk). 

• Detailed information about the 

organization’s survey process, including 

the following— 

++ Frequency of surveys and whether 

surveys are announced or unannounced. 

++ Copies of survey forms, and 

guidelines and instructions to 

surveyors. 

++ Descriptions of— 

—The survey review process and the 

accreditation status decision making 

process; 

—The procedures used to notify 

accredited MA organizations of 

deficiencies and to monitor the 

correction of those deficiencies; and 

—The procedures used to enforce 

compliance with accreditation 

requirements. 

• Detailed information about the 

individuals who perform surveys for the 

accreditation organization, including 

the following— 

++ The size and composition of 

accreditation survey teams for each type 

of plan reviewed as part of the 

accreditation process; 

++ The education and experience 

requirements surveyors must meet; 

++ The content and frequency of the 

in-service training provided to survey 

personnel; 

++ The evaluation systems used to 

monitor the performance of individual 

surveyors and survey teams; and 

++ The organization’s policies and 

practice with respect to the 

participation, in surveys or in the 

accreditation decision process by an 

individual who is professionally or 

financially affiliated with the entity 

being surveyed. 

• A description of the organization’s 

data management and analysis system 

with respect to its surveys and 

accreditation decisions, including the 

kinds of reports, tables, and other 

displays generated by that system. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

19290 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 62 / Friday, March 30, 2012 / Notices 

• A description of the organization’s 

procedures for responding to and 

investigating complaints against 

accredited organizations, including 

policies and procedures regarding 

coordination of these activities with 

appropriate licensing bodies and 

ombudsmen programs. 

• A description of the organization’s 

policies and procedures with respect to 

the withholding or removal of 

accreditation for failure to meet the 

accreditation organization’s standards or 

requirements, and other actions the 

organization takes in response to 

noncompliance with its standards and 

requirements. 

• A description of all types (for 

example, full, partial) and categories (for 

example, provisional, conditional, 

temporary) of accreditation offered by 

the organization, the duration of each 

type and category of accreditation and a 

statement identifying the types and 

categories that would serve as a basis for 

accreditation if CMS approves the 

accreditation organization. 

• A list of all currently accredited MA 

organizations and the type, category, 

and expiration date of the accreditation 

held by each of them. 

• A list of all full and partial 

accreditation surveys scheduled to be 

performed by the accreditation 

organization as requested by CMS. 

• The name and address of each 

person with an ownership or control 

interest in the accreditation 

organization. 

• We will also consider URAC’s past 

performance in the deeming program 

and results of recent deeming validation 

reviews, or look-behind audits 

conducted as part of continuing Federal 

oversight of the deeming program under 

§ 422.157(d). 

B. Notice Upon Completion of 

Evaluation 

Upon completion of our evaluation, 

including evaluation of comments 

received as a result of this notice, we 

will publish a notice in the Federal 

Register announcing the result of our 

evaluation. 

Section 1852(e)(4)(C) of the Act 

provides a statutory timetable to ensure 

that our review of deeming applications 

is conducted in a timely manner. The 

Act provides us with 210 calendar days 

after the date of receipt of an application 

to complete our survey activities and 

application review process. At the end 

of the 210 day period, we must publish 

an approval or denial of the application 

in the Federal Register. 

III. Collection of Information 

Requirements 

This document does not impose 

information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Consequently, it need not be reviewed 

by the Office of Management and 

Budget under the authority of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

IV. Response to Comments 

Because of the large number of public 

comments we normally receive on 

Federal Register documents, we are not 

able to acknowledge or respond to them 

individually. We will consider all 

comments we receive by the date and 

time specified in the DATES section of 

this preamble, and, when we proceed 

with a subsequent document, we will 

respond to the comments in the 

preamble to that document. 

Authority: Section 1865 of the Social 

Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395bb). 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program No. 93.773 Medicare—Hospital 

Insurance Program; and No. 93.774, 

Medicare-Supplementary Medical Insurance 

Program) 

Dated: March 23, 2012. 

Marilyn Tavenner, 

Acting CMS Administrator, Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7699 Filed 3–29–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–4166–PN] 

Medicare and Medicaid Programs; 

Renewal of Deeming Authority of the 

Accreditation Association for 

Ambulatory Health Care, Inc. for 

Medicare Advantage Health 

Maintenance Organizations and Local 

Preferred Provider Organizations 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. 

ACTION: Proposed notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces our 

proposal to renew the Medicare 

Advantage ‘‘deeming authority’’ of the 

Accreditation Association for 

Ambulatory Health Care, Inc. (AAAHC) 

for Health Maintenance Organizations 

and Preferred Provider Organizations for 

a term of 6 years. This new term of 

approval would begin July 11, 2012, and 

end July 10, 2018. This notice 

announces a 30-day period for public 

comments on the renewal of the 

application. 

DATES: To be assured consideration, 

comments must be received at one of 

the addresses provided below, no later 

than 5 p.m. on April 30, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: In commenting, please refer 

to file code CMS–4166–PN. Because of 

staff and resource limitations, we cannot 

accept comments by facsimile (FAX) 

transmission. 

You may submit comments in one of 

four ways (please choose only one of the 

ways listed): 

1. Electronically. You may submit 

electronic comments on this regulation 

to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 

the ‘‘Submit a comment’’ instructions. 

2. By regular mail. You may mail 

written comments to the following 

address ONLY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, Department of 

Health and Human Services, Attention: 

CMS–4166–PN, P.O. Box 8016, 

Baltimore, MD 21244–8016. 

Please allow sufficient time for mailed 

comments to be received before the 

close of the comment period. 

3. By express or overnight mail. You 

may send written comments to the 

following address ONLY: Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services, 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, Attention: CMS–4166–PN, 

Mail Stop C4–26–05, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244–1850. 

4. By hand or courier. If you prefer, 

you may deliver (by hand or courier) 

your written comments before the close 

of the comment period to either of the 

following addresses: 

a. For delivery in Washington, DC— 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services, Department of Health and 

Human Services, Room 445–G, Hubert 

H. Humphrey Building, 200 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20201. 

(Because access to the interior of the 

Hubert H. Humphrey Building is not 

readily available to persons without 

Federal government identification, 

commenters are encouraged to leave 

their comments in the CMS drop slots 

located in the main lobby of the 

building. A stamp-in clock is available 

for persons wishing to retain a proof of 

filing by stamping in and retaining an 

extra copy of the comments being filed.) 

b. For delivery in Baltimore, MD— 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services, Department of Health and 

Human Services, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244–1850. 

If you intend to deliver your 

comments to the Baltimore address, 

please call telephone number (410) 786– 

0361 in advance to schedule your 

arrival with one of our staff members. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES