21770 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 84 / Tuesday, May 1, 2001 / Notices

require an average of 95 hours of

professional staff time and 30 hours of

support staff time per application.

Estimates of annual activity and burden

for foreign sponsor nomination of a

resident, agent, change in ownership or

designation, and inadequate supplies of

drug in exclusivity, are based on total

experience by FDA with such requests

since 1983.

Dated: April 24, 2001.

William K. Hubbard,

Senior Associate Commissioner for Policy,

Planning, and Legislation.

[FR Doc. 01–10711 Filed 4–30–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160–01–S

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Health Care Financing Administration

[Document Identifier: HCFA–1450]

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Health Care Financing

Administration, HHS.

In compliance with the requirement

of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the

Health Care Financing Administration

(HCFA), Department of Health and

Human Services, is publishing the

following summary of proposed

collections for public comment.

Interested persons are invited to send

comments regarding this burden

estimate or any other aspect of this

collection of information, including any

of the following subjects: (1) The

necessity and utility of the proposed

information collection for the proper

performance of the agency’s functions;

(2) the accuracy of the estimated

burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality,

utility, and clarity of the information to

be collected; and (4) the use of

automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology to

minimize the information collection

burden.

Type of Information Request:

Extension of a currently approved

collection; Title of Information

Collection: Medicare Uniform

Institutional Provider Bill and

Supporting Regulations in 42 CFR

424.5; Form Number: HCFA–1450 (OMB

approval #: 0938–0247); Use: This

standardized form is used in the

Medicare/Medicaid program to apply

for reimbursement of covered services

by all providers that accept Medicare/

Medicaid assigned claims; Frequency:

On occasion; Affected Public: Business

or other for-profit, Not-for-profit

institutions; Number of Respondents:

46,708; Total Annual Responses:

147,343,290; Total Annual Hours

Requested: 1,854,070.

To obtain copies of the supporting

statement and any related forms for the

proposed paperwork collections

referenced above, access HCFA’s Web

Site address at http://www.hcfa.gov/

regs/prdact95.htm, or E-mail your

request, including your address, phone

number, OMB number, and HCFA

document identifier, to

Paperwork@hcfa.gov, or call the Reports

Clearance Office on (410) 786–1326.

Written comments and

recommendations for the proposed

information collections must be mailed

within 30 days of this notice directly to

the OMB desk officer: OMB Human

Resources and Housing Branch,

Attention: Wendy Taylor, New

Executive Office Building, Room 10235,

Washington, DC 20503.

Dated: March 19, 2001.

John P. Burke, III,

HCFA Office of Information Services, Security

and Standards Group, Division of HCFA

Enterprise Standards.

[FR Doc. 01–10814 Filed 4–30–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4120–03–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Health Care Financing Administration

[HCFA–1182–PN]

RIN 0938–AK75

Medicare Program; Revision of

Payment Rates for End-Stage Renal

Disease (ESRD) Patients Enrolled in

Medicare+Choice Plans

AGENCY: Health Care Financing

Administration (HCFA), HHS.

ACTION: Proposed notice.

SUMMARY: This notice proposes a new

payment methodology, effective January

2002, for beneficiaries with End-Stage

Renal Disease (ESRD) who are enrolled

in Medicare+Choice (M+C) plans. The

proposed methodology would

implement section 605 of the Medicare,

Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits

Improvement and Protection Act of

2000 (BIPA). Section 605 requires the

Secretary to increase ESRD M+C

payment rates, using appropriate

adjustments, to reflect the

demonstration rates (including the risk

adjustment methodology associated

with those rates) of the social health

maintenance organization ESRD

capitation demonstrations. Briefly, the

approach that we propose follows:

• Base State-level per capita rates on

100 percent of estimated State per capita

ESRD fee-for-service expenditures in a

base year.

• Adjust State per capita rates by age

and sex factors, in order to pay more

accurately, given differences in costs

among ESRD patients.

The effect of the new ESRD M+C

payment methodology would be to

increase Medicare’s Fiscal Year (FY)

2002 ESRD payments by an estimated

$25 million (for 9 months of costs, given

the effective date of January 2002). Total

ESRD M+C payment increases for FY

2003 through FY 2005 are estimated to

be $40 million annually.

The payment methodology proposed

in this notice would govern M+C

payments for enrollees with ESRD in

2002. M+C organizations are required to

submit Adjusted Community Rate (ACR)

proposals setting forth their M+C plan

benefits, premiums, and cost-sharing for

2002 by July 1, 2001. M+C organizations

need information on the payments they

will receive for ESRD enrollees to

prepare their ACR submissions. Section

605(c) of BIPA provided that this notice

had to be published no later than 6

months after the enactment of BIPA or

June 20, 2001. Yet section 605(c) also

requires that the ‘‘final’’ ESRD

methodology be published no later than

July 1, 2001. In light of these deadlines,

and the need of M+C organizations for

final information on ESRD payment

rates to prepare the ACR proposals, we

find that affording the public a full 60-

day comment period would be

‘‘impracticable’’ and ‘‘contrary to the

public interest,’’ and that there is ‘‘good

cause’’ for shortening the 60-day

comment period we normally provide to

30 days.

DATES: We will consider comments if

we receive them at the appropriate

address, as provided below, no later

than 5 p.m. on May 31, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Mail written comments (1

original and 3 copies) to the following

address ONLY: Health Care Financing

Administration, Department of Health

and Human Services, Attention: HCFA–

1182–PN, P.O. Box 8013, Baltimore, MD

21244–8013.

To ensure that mailed comments are

received in time for us to consider them,

please allow for possible delays in

delivering them.

If you prefer, you may deliver your

written comments (1 original and 3

copies) to one of the following

addresses: Room 443–G, Hubert H.

Humphrey Building, 200 Independence

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201, or