28188 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 22, 2001 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Health Care Financing Administration

Privacy Act of 1974; Computer

Matching Program (Match Number

2001–04)

AGENCY: Department of Health and

Human Services (HHS), Health Care

Financing Administration (HCFA).

ACTION: Notice of Computer Matching

Program (CMP).

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974,

as amended, this notice announces a

CMP agreement that HCFA plans to

conduct with the Department of Defense

(DOD). We have provided background

information about the proposed

matching program in the

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section

below. Although the Privacy Act

requires only that HCFA provide an

opportunity for interested persons to

comment on the CMP, HCFA invites

comments on all portions of this notice.

See EFFECTIVE DATES section below for

comment period.

EFFECTIVE DATES: HCFA filed a report of

the CMP with the Chair of the House

Committee on Government Reform and

Oversight, the Chair of the Senate

Committee on Governmental Affairs,

and the Administrator, Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) on May 16, 2001. We will not

disclose any information under a

matching agreement until 40 days after

filing a report to OMB and Congress or

30 days after publication. We may defer

implementation of this matching

program if we receive comments that

persuade us to do so.

ADDRESS: The public should address

comments to: Director, Division of Data

Liaison and Distribution (DDLD), HCFA,

Mailstop N2–04–27, 7500 Security

Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244–

1850. Comments received will be

available for review at this location, by

appointment, during hours specified,

Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.–3

p.m., Eastern Time zone.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Maribel Franey, Health Insurance

Specialist, Division of Data Liaison and

Distribution, Enterprise Database Group,

Office of Information Services, HCFA,

Mailstop N2–04–27, 7500 Security

Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244–

1850. The telephone number is (410)

786–0757 or facsimile (410) 786–5636.

The e-mail address is mfraney@hcfa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Description of the Matching Program

A. General

The Computer Matching and Privacy

Protection Act (CMPPA) of 1988 (Public

Law (Pub. L.) 100–503), amended the

Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) by

describing the manner in which

computer matching involving Federal

agencies could be performed and added

certain protections for individuals

applying for and receiving Federal

benefits. Section 7201 of the Omnibus

Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (Pub.

L. 100–508) further amended the

Privacy Act regarding protections for

such individuals. The Privacy Act, as

amended, regulates the use of computer

matching by Federal agencies when

records in a system of records are

matched with other Federal, state, or

local government records. It requires

Federal agencies involved in CMPs:

1. Negotiate written agreements with

the other agencies participating in

matching programs;

2. Obtain the Data Integrity Board’s

(DIB) approval of the match agreement;

3. Furnish detailed reports about

matching programs to Congress and

OMB;

4. Notify applicants and beneficiaries

that the records are subject to matching;

and

5. Verify match findings before

reducing, suspending, terminating, or

denying an individual’s benefits or

payments.

B. HCFA Computer Matches Subject to

the Privacy Act

HCFA has taken action to ensure that

all of the computer match programs that

this agency participates in comply with

the requirements of the Privacy Act of

1974, as amended.

Michael McMullan,

Acting Deputy Administrator, Health Care

Financing Administration.

Computer Match No. 2001–04

NAME:

Verification of TRICARE Eligibility.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:

Level Three Privacy Act Sensitive.

PARTICIPATING AGENCIES:

The Health Care Financing

Administration (HCFA); and the

Department of Defense (DOD).

AUTHORITY FOR CONDUCTING MATCHING

PROGRAM:

The Computer Matching Agreement is

executed to comply with the Privacy

Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended,

the Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) Circular A–130, titled

‘‘Management of Federal Information

Resources’’ (61 FR 6435, February 20,

1996), and OMB guidelines pertaining

to computer matching (54 FR 25818,

June 19, 1989).

This agreement provides for

information matching necessary to

implement the information provisions

of the National Defense Authorization

Act (NDAA) 2001 (Pub. L. 106–398)

sections 711 and 712; the NDAA for

fiscal year (FY) 1993 (Pub. L. 102–484)

section 705, and the NDAA for FY 1992

(Pub. L. 102–190) sections 704 and 713.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE MATCHING PROGRAM:

The purpose of this agreement is to

establish the conditions, safeguards, and

procedures under which the Health Care

Financing Administration (HCFA) will

disclose Medicare enrollment

information to the Department of

Defense (DOD), Defense Manpower Data

Center (DMDC), Defense Enrollment and

Eligibility Reporting System Office

(DEERS), and the Office of the Assistant

Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs)/

TRICARE Management Activity (TMA).

This disclosure will provide TMA with

the information necessary to determine

if an individual is eligible to receive

extended TRICARE coverage.

Current law requires TMA to provide

health care and medical benefits to

Medicare—Part A eligible beneficiaries

who are enrolled in the medical

insurance program under Part B of the

Medicare program. In order for TMA to

meet these requirements, HCFA agrees

to disclose Part A entitlement and Part

B enrollment data on this dual-eligible

population, which will be used to

determine a beneficiary’s eligibility for

care under TRICARE. DEERS will

receive the results of the computer

match and provide the information to

TMA for use in its program.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS AND INDIVIDUALS

COVERED BY THE MATCH:

DEERS will furnish HCFA with an

electronic file on a monthly basis

extracted from DEERS system of records

identified as S322.50, entitled ‘‘Defense

Eligibility Records (DER),’’ containing

social security numbers (SSNs) and date

of birth for all DOD-eligible

beneficiaries who may also be eligible

for Medicare benefits. HCFA will match

the DEERS file against its ‘‘Enrollment

Database (EDB)’’ system of records

(formerly known as the Health

Insurance Master Record), System No.

09–70–0502, and will validate the

identification of the beneficiary by

providing the Health Insurance Claim

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 22, 2001 / Notices 28189

Number (HICN) that matches against the

SSN and date of birth provided by

DEERS. The HICN uniquely identifies a

Medicare eligible individual. Since

Medicare remains the primary payer for

many retiree health services, TRICARE

will need this information to determine

when Medicare has already paid for

retiree benefits, so that TRICARE only

pays when appropriate. HCFA will also

provide the Medicare Part A entitlement

and Part B enrollment status of the

beneficiary. HCFA’s data will help TMA

to determine a beneficiary’s eligibility

for care under TRICARE. DEERS will

receive the results of the computer

match and provide the information

provided in the reply file to TMA for

use in its program.

INCLUSIVE DATES OF THE MATCH:

The matching program shall become

effective no sooner than 40 days after

the report of the matching program is

sent to OMB and Congress, or 30 days

after publication in the Federal

Register, whichever is later. The

matching program will continue for 18

months from the effective date and may

be extended for an additional 12 months

thereafter, if certain conditions are met.

[FR Doc. 01–12763 Filed 5–21–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4120–03–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services

Administration

Program Requirements and Review

Criteria for Cooperative Agreements

for Regional Centers for Health

Workforce Studies

The Health Resources and Services

Administration (HRSA) announces that

applications will be accepted for

Cooperative Agreements for fiscal year

(FY) 2001 to establish or continue five

Regional Centers for Health Workforce

Studies (Regional Centers).

The purpose of these Cooperative

Agreements is to support health

workforce research, analysis and

technical assistance with a State and

regional focus, including issues

regarding the impact of Federal

initiatives aimed at improving the

training of health professionals and

health workforce development in

general, both within specific disciplines

and as they pertain to the three crossdiscipline major trends (diversity,

genetics, and geriatrics) identified by

HRSA’s Bureau of Health Professions

(BHPr). In addition, patient-focused

cross-discipline research and analysis of

issues such as border, mental and oral

health, cultural competence, and the

impact of health workforce development

on access to or financing of a State’s or

region’s health care system will be

addressed.

Authorizing Legislation

These Cooperative Agreements are

governed by section 761 of title VII of

the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (the

Act), which authorizes the collection of

data and the analysis of workforce

related issues.

The Federal role in the conduct of

these Cooperative Agreements allows

for substantial Federal programmatic

involvement with the planning,

development, administration, and

evaluation of the Regional Centers and

their outputs. The BHPr program officer

will be assisted in this effort by program

staff of the BHPr Divisions. The Federal

Government involvement will include:

(a) Participation in the identification

and selection of workforce study

priorities;

(b) Participation in the review and

selection of research projects, which

includes providing substantial guidance

on Federal policy-relevant issues, or

issues of particular national interest that

require research and analysis. This

includes identification of HRSA

programmatic issues for special

attention (e.g., diversity) through the

Cooperative Agreements;

(c) Participation in the approval of

study protocols and methodologies;

(d) Consultation regarding subcontracts awarded under these

Cooperative Agreements, including

review of contracts and agreements

developed during the implementation of

project activities;

(e) Assistance in supplying data

relevant to Regional Center studies, or

in identifying sources of such data,

including other Federal agencies, or

other public and private organizations;

defining the mission, goals and

objectives for the Center;

(f) Assistance in the dissemination of

results and, if appropriate, participation

in their publication in peer-reviewed

journals.

Availability of Funds

Approximately $1,250,000 is available

to fund five regional competitive

Cooperative Agreements in FY 2001.

The project period will be 5 years. This

is a one time competition and is not

expected to be an ongoing Cooperative

Agreement program. Each applicant

may request up to $250,000 per year in

total costs (direct plus indirect costs) for

up to 5 years. Funding for years after the

first year will depend on satisfactory

performance and the availability of

appropriations.

The award recipient institution must

share in the cost of the program as

follows: for each year funds are awarded

under this program, the matching

contribution shall be at least one-third

of the amount of the Federal award for

that year. Up to 50 percent of the

recipient’s matching contribution may

be in the form of in-kind donations such

as faculty time, staff time, use of

computers and other shared resources.

Because the Regional Centers will

have a strong regional component, the

BHPr will consider the regional

dimension of each center selected to

ensure that the geographic distribution

of the five selected centers will assure

maximum geographic coverage of the

nation. Five Regional Centers will be

funded at this time, subject to the

availability of funds, but only one

Regional Center will be approved in

each of five of the six geographic areas.

For purposes of this competition, the

HRSA six geographic areas are:

(a) HRSA Regions 1 (Connecticut,

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,

Rhode Island, Vermont), 2 (New Jersey,

New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands),

and 3 (Delaware, District of Columbia,

Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West

Virginia);

(b) HRSA Region 4 (Alabama, Florida,

Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North

Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee);

(c) HRSA Regions 5 (Illinois, Indiana,

Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin)

and 7 (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri,

Nebraska);

(d) HRSA Region 6 ( Arkansas,

Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma,

Texas);

(e) HRSA Region 9 (American Samoa,

Arizona, California, The Federated

States of Micronesia, The

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

Islands, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, The

Republic of the Marshall Islands, and

The Republic of Palau);

(f) HRSA Regions 8 (Colorado,

Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota,

Utah, Wyoming) and 10 (Alaska, Idaho,

Oregon, Washington).

For a map and description of the

HRSA Regions, see HRSA’s web site at:

http://bhpr.hrsa/gov/healthworkforce/

fieldoffices.htm.

Background

The successful Regional Center

applicant will have three overriding

objectives:

(1) Serve as a national resource in

health workforce studies (This may

include congressionally-mandated

studies such as the recent Pharmacy

Shortage Report or lead participation in