[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 192 (Tuesday, October 3, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59002-59003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-25339]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the intention of the Agency for 
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to allow a proposed information collection 
project: ``Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component (MEPS-
HC)--2001 through 2004''. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ invites 
the public to comment on this proposed information collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by December 4, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: Cynthia McMichael, 
Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, 2101 East Jefferson Street, Suite 500, 
Rockville, MD 20852-4908.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and included in the request for OMB approval of the proposed 
information collection. All comments will become a matter of public 
record.
    In accordance with the above-cited legislation, comments on the 
AHRQ information collection proposal are requested with regard to any 
of the following: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of functions of the Agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the 
accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden (including hours and 
costs) 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 on 
respondents, including the sue of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Project

    ``Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component (MEPS-HC)--
2001 through 2004''.
    The AHRQ intends to conduct an annual panel survey of U.S. 
households to collect information on a variety of measures related to 
health status, health insurance coverage, health care use and 
expenditures, and sources of payment for health services. Each panel 
consists of a nationally representative sample of U.S. households who 
remain in MEPS for two consecutive years of data collection. The first 
panel of MEPS began in 1996 and has continued annually thereafter. The 
MEPS-HC is jointly sponsored by the AHRQ and the National Center for 
Health Statistics (NCHS).
    It will be conducted using a sample of households selected from 
households which responded to the National Health Interview Survey 
(NHIS) sponsored by NCHS. The NHIS is a household survey which collects 
health related data from approximately 50,000 households and 110,000 
people. The NHIS is used as the sampling frame for the MEPS and several 
other surveys as part of efforts by the Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS) to integrate survey data collection activities.
    Data to be collected from each household include detailed 
information on demographics, health conditions, current health status, 
utilization of health care providers, charges and payments for health 
care services, quality of care received, medications, employment and 
health insurance.
    Subject to AHRQ and NCHS confidentiality statutes, data will be 
made available through publications, articles in major journals as well 
as public use data files. The data are intended to be used for purposes 
such as:
    <bullet> Generating national estimates of individual and family 
health care use and expenditures, private and public health insurance 
coverage, and the

[[Page 59003]]

availability, costs and scope of private health insurance benefits 
among Americans;
    <bullet> Examining the effects of changes in how chronic care and 
disability are managed and financed;
    <bullet> Evaluating the growing impact of managed care and of 
enrollment in different types of managed care plans; and
    <bullet> Examining access to and costs of health care for common 
diseases and conditions, health care quality, prescription drug use, 
and other health issues.
    Statisticians and researchers will use these data to make important 
generalizations on the civilian non-institutionalized population of the 
United States, as well as to conduct research in which the family is 
the unit of analysis.

Method of Collection

    The data will be collected using a combination of modes. For 
example, the AHRQ intends to introduce study participants to the survey 
through advance mailings. The first contact will provide the household 
with information regarding the importance and uses of the information 
obtained. The AHRQ will then conduct five (in-person) interviews with 
each household to obtain health care use and expense data. Data will be 
collected using a computer-assisted personal interviewing method 
(CAPI). In certain cases, AHRQ will conduct interviews over the 
telephone, if necessary. Burden estimates follow:

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden Per Year

    Each MEPS participant is asked to complete 5 interviews over two 
and one half years. Each interview averages 1.8 hours in length. Total 
burden is estimated in the following chart.

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                                                                                    Burden per
                          Survey period                              Number of       complete      Total burden
                                                                     completes        (hours)         (hours)
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Feb-July 2001...................................................          19,380             1.8          34,884
August-Dec 2001.................................................          13,280             1.8          23,904
Feb-July 2002...................................................          21,248             1.8          34,246
Aug-Dec 2002....................................................          16,239             1.8          29,230
Feb-July 2003...................................................          24,187             1.8          43,537
                                                                                                         148,291
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    Dated: September 27, 2000.
John M. Eisenberg,
Director.
[FR Doc. 00-25339 Filed 10-2-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M