Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 203 / Thursday, October 19, 2000 / Notices 62733

governments, preempts State law, or

otherwise has Federalism implications.

We have determined that this notice

does not significantly affect the rights,

roles, and responsibilities of States.

This notice announces that the

monthly actuarial rates applicable for

2001 are $101.00 for enrollees age 65

and over, and $132.20 for disabled

enrollees under age 65. It also

announces that the monthly SMI

premium rate for calendar year 2001 is

$50.00. The SMI premium rate of $50.00

is 9.9% higher than the $45.50 premium

rate for 2000. We estimate that the cost

of this increase from the current

premium to the approximately 38

million SMI enrollees will be about

$2.042 billion for 2001. Therefore, this

notice is a major rule as defined in Title

5, United States Code, section 804(2)

and is an economically significant rule

under Executive Order 12866.

In accordance with the provisions of

Executive Order 12866, this notice was

reviewed by the Office of Management

and Budget.

V. Waiver of Proposed Notice

The Medicare statute requires the

publication of the monthly actuarial

rates and the Part B premium amounts

in September. We ordinarily use general

notices, rather than notice and comment

rulemaking procedures, to make such

announcements. In doing so, we note

that under the Administrative Procedure

Act; interpretive rules; general

statements of policy; and rules of agency

organization, procedure, or practice are

excepted from the requirements of

notice and comment rulemaking.

We considered publishing a proposed

notice to provide a period for public

comment. However, we may waive that

procedure if we find good cause that

prior notice and comment are

impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary

to the public interest. We find that the

procedure for notice and comment is

unnecessary because the formula used

to calculate the SMI premium is

statutorily directed, and we can exercise

no discretion in following that formula.

Moreover, the statute establishes the

time period for which the premium

rates will apply, and delaying

publication of the SMI premium rate

would be contrary to the public interest.

Therefore, we find good cause to waive

publication of a proposed notice and

solicitation of public comments.

(Section 1839 of the Social Security Act; 42

U.S.C. 1395r)

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program No. 93.774, Medicare—

Supplementary Medical Insurance)

Dated: September 25, 2000.

Nancy-Ann Min DeParle,

Administrator, Health Care Financing

Administration.

Dated: September 26, 2000.

Donna E. Shalala,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–26848 Filed 10–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Health Care Financing Administration

[HCFA–8008–N]

RIN 0938–AK34

Medicare Program; Part A Premium for

2001 for the Uninsured Aged and for

Certain Disabled Individuals Who Have

Exhausted Other Entitlement

AGENCY: Health Care Financing

Administration (HCFA), HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the

hospital insurance premium for

calendar year 2001 under Medicare’s

hospital insurance program (Part A) for

the uninsured aged and for certain

disabled individuals who have

exhausted other entitlement. The

monthly Medicare Part A premium for

the 12 months beginning January 1,

2001 for these individuals is $300. The

reduced premium for certain other

individuals as described in this notice is

$165. Section 1818(d) of the Social

Security Act specifies the method to be

used to determine these amounts.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective

on January 1, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Clare McFarland, (410) 786–6390.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Section 1818 of the Social Security

Act (the Act) provides for voluntary

enrollment in the Medicare hospital

insurance program (Medicare Part A),

subject to payment of a monthly

premium, of certain persons aged 65

and older, who are uninsured for social

security or railroad retirement benefits

and do not otherwise meet the

requirements for entitlement to

Medicare Part A. (Persons insured under

the Social Security or Railroad

Retirement Acts need not pay premiums

for hospital insurance.)

Section 1818(d) of the Act requires us

to estimate, on an average per capita

basis, the amount to be paid from the

Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund

for services performed, and related

administrative costs incurred, in the

following calendar year with respect to

individuals aged 65 and over who will

be entitled to benefits under Medicare

Part A. We must then, during September

of each year, determine the monthly

actuarial rate (the per capita amount

estimated above divided by 12) and

publish the dollar amount for the

monthly premium in the succeeding

calendar year. If the premium is not a

multiple of $1, the premium is rounded

to the nearest multiple of $1 (or, if it is

a multiple of 50 cents but not of $1, it

is rounded to the next highest $1). The

2000 premium under this method was

$301 and was effective January 1, 2000.

(See 64 FR 57110, October 22, 1999.)

Section 1818(d)(2) of the Act requires

us to determine and publish, during

September of each calendar year, the

amount of the monthly premium for the

following calendar year for persons who

voluntarily enroll in Medicare Part A.

Section 1818A of the Act provides for

voluntary enrollment in Medicare Part

A, subject to payment of a monthly

premium, of certain disabled

individuals who have exhausted other

entitlement. These individuals are those

not now entitled but who have been

entitled under section 226(b) of the Act,

who continue to have the disabling

impairment upon which their

entitlement was based, and whose

entitlement ended solely because they

had earnings that exceeded the

substantial gainful activity amount (as

defined in section 223(d)(4) of the Act).

Section 1818A(d)(2) of the Act

specifies that the provisions relating to

premiums under section 1818(d)

through (f) of the Act for the aged will

also apply to certain disabled

individuals as described above.

Therefore, the premium amounts

applicable to the aged, as announced in

this notice, also apply to these certain

disabled individuals.

Section 13508 of the Omnibus Budget

Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Public Law

103–66) amended section 1818(d) of the

Act to provide for a reduction in the

monthly premium amount for certain

voluntary enrollees. The reduction

applies for an individual who is not

eligible for social security or railroad

retirement benefits but who, with

respect to a month, as of the last day of

the previous month—

• Had at least 30 quarters of coverage

under title II of the Act;

• Was married and had been married

for the previous 1-year period to a

person who had at least 30 quarters of

coverage;

• Had been married to a person for at

least 1 year at the time of the person’s

62734 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 203 / Thursday, October 19, 2000 / Notices

death if at such time the person had at

least 30 quarters of coverage; or

• Is divorced from a person and had

been married to the person for at least

10 years at the time of the divorce, if at

the time of the divorce, the person had

at least 30 quarters of coverage.

For calendar year 2001, section

1818(d)(4)(A) of the Act specifies that

the monthly premium that these

individuals will pay for calendar year

2001 will be equal to the monthly

premium for aged voluntary enrollees

reduced by 45 percent.

II. Premium Amount for 2001

Under the authority of sections

1818(d)(2) and 1818A(d)(2) of the Act,

the Secretary has determined that the

monthly Medicare Part A hospital

insurance premium for the uninsured

aged and for certain disabled

individuals who have exhausted other

entitlement for the 12 months beginning

January 1, 2001 is $300.

The monthly premium for those

individuals subject to a 45 percent

reduction in the monthly premium for

the 12-month period beginning January

1, 2001 is $165.

III. Statement of Actuarial Assumptions

and Bases Employed in Determining the

Monthly Premium Rate

As discussed in section I of this

notice, the monthly Medicare Part A

premium for 2001 is equal to the

estimated monthly actuarial rate for

2001 rounded to the nearest multiple of

$1. The monthly actuarial rate is

defined to be one-twelfth of the average

per capita amount that the Secretary

estimates will be paid from the Federal

Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for

services performed and related

administrative costs incurred in 2001

for individuals aged 65 and over who

will be entitled to benefits under the

hospital insurance program during

2001. Thus, the number of individuals

aged 65 and over who will be entitled

to hospital insurance benefits and the

costs incurred on behalf of these

beneficiaries must be projected to

determine the premium rate.

The principal steps involved in

projecting the future costs of the

hospital insurance program are (a)

establishing the present cost of services

furnished to beneficiaries, by type of

service, to serve as a projection base; (b)

projecting increases in payment

amounts for each of the various service

types; and (c) projecting increases in

administrative costs. Establishing

historical Medicare Part A enrollment

and projecting future enrollment, by

type of beneficiary, is part of this

process.

We have completed all of the above

steps, basing our projections for 2001 on

(a) current historical data and (b)

projection assumptions under current

law from the Midsession Review of the

President’s Fiscal Year 2001 Budget. It

is estimated that in calendar year 2001,

33.809 million people aged 65 and over

will be entitled to Medicare Part A

benefits (without premium payment),

and that these individuals will, in 2001,

incur $121.835 billion of benefits for

services performed and related

administrative costs. Thus, the

estimated monthly average per capita

amount is $300.30 and the monthly

premium is $300. The monthly

premium for those individuals eligible

to pay this premium reduced by 45

percent is $165.

IV. Costs to Beneficiaries

The 2001 Medicare Part A premium of

$300 is about 0.3 percent lower than the

2000 premium of $301.

We estimate that there will be, in

calendar year 2001, approximately

382,000 enrollees who do not otherwise

meet the requirements for entitlement,

and will voluntarily enroll in Medicare

Part A by paying the full premium. We

estimate an additional 6,000 enrollees

will be paying the reduced premium.

The estimated overall effect of the

changes in the premium will be a

savings to these voluntary enrollees of

about $5 million.

V. Waiver of Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking

The Medicare statute, as discussed

previously, requires publication of the

Medicare Part A hospital insurance

premium for the upcoming calendar

year during September of each year. The

amounts are determined according to

the statute. As has been our custom, we

use general notices, rather than formal

notice and comment rulemaking

procedures, to make the

announcements. In doing so, we

acknowledge that, under the

Administrative Procedure Act,

interpretive rules, general statements of

policy, and rules of agency organization,

procedure, or practice are excepted from

the requirements of notice and comment

rulemaking.

We considered publishing a proposed

notice to provide a period for public

comment. However, we may waive that

procedure if we find good cause that

prior notice and comment are

impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary

to the public interest. We find that the

procedure for notice and comment is

unnecessary because the formula used

to calculate the Part A hospital

insurance premium is statutorily

directed, and we can exercise no

discretion in following that formula.

Moreover, the statute established the

time period for which the premium will

apply and delaying publication of the

premium amount would be contrary to

the public interest. Therefore, we find

good cause to waive publication of a

proposed notice and solicitation of

public comments.

VI. Regulatory Impact Statement

We have examined the impacts of this

notice as required by Executive Order

12866 and the Regulatory Flexibility Act

(RFA) (Public Law 96–354). Executive

Order 12866 directs agencies to assess

all costs and benefits of available

regulatory alternatives and, when

regulation is necessary, to select

regulatory approaches that maximize

net benefits (including potential

economic, environmental, public health

and safety effects; distributive impacts;

and equity). The RFA requires agencies

to analyze options for regulatory relief

for small entities. For purposes of the

RFA, States and individuals are not

considered small entities.

Also, section 1102(b) of the Act

requires the Secretary to prepare a

regulatory impact analysis for any

notice that may have a significant

impact on the operations of a substantial

number of small rural hospitals. Such

an analysis must conform to the

provisions of section 604 of the RFA.

For purposes of section 1102(b) of the

Act, we consider a small rural hospital

as a hospital that is located outside of

a Metropolitan Statistical Area and has

fewer than 50 beds.

As stated previously in section IV, the

estimated overall effect of the changes

in the premium will be a savings to

voluntary enrollees of about $5 million.

Therefore, this notice is not a major rule

as defined in Title 5, United States Code

Annotated, section 804(2) and is not an

economically significant regulatory

action under Executive Order 12866.

Therefore, we have determined, and

the Secretary certifies, that this notice

will not result in a significant impact on

a substantial number of small entities

and will not have a significant impact

on the operations of a substantial

number of small rural hospitals.

Therefore, we are not preparing analyses

for either the RFA or section 1102(b) of

the Act.

In accordance with the provisions of

Executive Order 12866, this notice was

reviewed by the Office of Management

and Budget.

We have reviewed this notice under

the threshold criteria of Executive Order

13132, Federalism. We have determined

that it does not significantly affect the

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 203 / Thursday, October 19, 2000 / Notices 62735

rights, roles, and responsibilities of

States.

Authority: Sections 1818(d)(2) and

1818A(d)(2) of the Social Security Act (42

U.S.C. 1395i–2(d)(2) and 1395i–2a(d)(2)).

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program No. 93.773, Medicare—Hospital

Insurance)

Dated: September 25, 2000.

Nancy-Ann Min DeParle,

Administrator, Health Care Financing

Administration.

Dated: September 26, 2000.

Donna E. Shalala,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–26847 Filed 10–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services

Administration

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Proposed Collection:

Comment Request

In compliance with the requirement

for opportunity for public comment on

proposed data collection projects

(section 3506(c)(2)(A) of Title 44, United

States Code, as amended by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13), the Health

Resources and Services Administration

(HRSA) publishes periodic summaries

of proposed projects being developed

for submission to OMB under the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. To

request more information on the

proposed project or to obtain a copy of

the data collection plans and draft

instruments, call the HRSA Reports

Clearance Officer on (301) 443–1129.

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether

the proposed collection of information

is necessary for the proper performance

of the functions of the agency, including

whether the information shall have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the 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

on respondents, including through the

use of automated collection techniques

or other forms of information

technology.

Proposed Project: Performance

Standards for Special Projects of

Regional or National Significance

(SPRANS), and Community Integrated

Service Systems (CISS) Projects—

(NEW)

The Health Resources and Services

Administration (HRSA) proposes to

modify reporting requirements for

SPRANS projects, CISS projects, and

other grant programs administered by

the Maternal and Child Health Bureau

(MCHB) to include national

performance measures being developed

in accordance with the requirements of

the ‘‘Government Performance and

Results Act (GPRA) of 1993’’ (Pub. L.

103–62).

This act requires the establishment of

measurable goals for Federal programs

that can be reported as part of the

budgetary process, thus linking funding

decisions with performance.

Performance measures for States have

already been established under the

block grant provisions of Title V.

Performance measures for other MCHBfunded grant programs are currently

being finalized, and will be sent to the

Office of Management and Budget for

approval.

There are approximately 30 proposed

new performance measures, however,

some measures are specific to certain

types of programs, and will not apply to

all grantees. Furthermore, the measures

are expected to be based primarily on

existing data.

The estimated response burden is as

follows:

Type of form Number of respondents

Responses

per respondent

Burden hours

per response

Total burden

hours

Application and Annual Report ........................................................................ 750 1 8 6000

Total .......................................................................................................... 750 6000

Send comments to Susan G. Queen,

Ph.D., HRSA Reports Clearance Officer,

Room 14–33, Parklawn Building, 5600

Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.

Written comments should be received

within 60 days of this notice.

Dated: October 13, 2000.

Jane M. Harrison,

Director, Division of Policy Review and

Coordination.

[FR Doc. 00–26895 Filed 10–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160–15–U

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services

Administration

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request

Periodically, the Health Resources

and Services Administration (HRSA)

publishes abstracts of information

collection requests under review by the

Office of Management and Budget, in

compliance with the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35). To request a copy of the

clearance requests submitted to OMB for

review, call the HRSA Reports

Clearance Office on (301) 443–1129.

The following request has been

submitted to the Office of Management

and Budget for review under the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995:

Proposed Project: Ryan White

Comprehensive AIDS Resources

Emergency Act of 1990—Title IV (OMB

#0915–0206)—Extension

This is a request for extension of the

reporting system of the Ryan White

Comprehensive AIDS Resources

Emergency (CARE) Act of 1990, Title IV

as amended by the Ryan White CARE

Act Amendments of 1996. It authorizes

a reporting system to collect information

from grantees and the service providers

that are their subcontractors as governed

under Section 2671 of the Public Health

Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 300ff–71).

Title IV provides support for

coordinated HIV services and access to

research for children, youth, women,

and families. It supports efforts to

develop comprehensive, coordinated,