Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 91 / Wednesday, May 11, 2022 / Notices 28833 

Similarly, the project would be unable 

to expand its current technical 

assistance and training efforts in PCTI 

concepts and approaches, let alone 

reach beyond traditional providers of 

services to this population to train more 

‘‘mainstream’’ providers of aging 

services. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information or comments 

regarding this program supplement, 

contact Greg Link, U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services, 

Administration for Community Living, 

Administration on Aging, Office of 

Supportive and Caregiver Services: 

Telephone (202)–795–7386; email 

greg.link@acl.hhs.gov. 

Dated: May 6, 2022. 

Alison Barkoff, 

Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary 

for Aging. 

[FR Doc. 2022–10084 Filed 5–10–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4154–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Administration for Community Living 

Announcing the Intent To Award a 

Single-Source Supplement for the 

National Center for Benefits Outreach 

and Enrollment 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Administration for 

Community Living (ACL) announces the 

intent to award a single-source 

supplemental to the current cooperative 

agreement held by the National Council 

on Aging (NCOA) for the National 

Center for Benefits Outreach and 

Enrollment (NCBOE). The purpose of 

the NCBOE is to provide technical 

assistance to states, Area Agencies on 

Aging, Aging and Disability Resource 

Centers and service providers who 

conduct outreach and low-income 

benefits enrollment assistance, 

particularly to older individuals with 

greatest economic need for federal and 

state programs. The administrative 

supplement for FY 2022 will be for 

$2,931,502, bringing the total award for 

FY 2022 to $14,431,502. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information or comments 

regarding this program supplement, 

contact Margaret Flowers, U.S. 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, Administration for 

Community Living, Center for Integrated 

Programs, Office of Healthcare 

Information and Counseling; telephone 

(202) 795–7315; email 

Margaret.flowers@acl.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

supplemental funding will expand the 

NCBOE’s outreach and education efforts 

targeting older adults with the greatest 

economic need, especially people from 

underserved communities. The NCBOE 

will build on current efforts to reach 

and assist beneficiaries, including 

expanding the work of the Benefits 

Enrollment Centers, making 

enhancements to the benefits eligibility 

and screening tool, and expanding the 

capacity of the benefits call center. As 

part of this work, the NCBOE should 

reflect on the equity assessment 

conducted in 2021 to identify specific 

strategies to reach and enroll 

beneficiaries in rural communities, who 

are under 65, with limited English 

proficiency, from tribal communities, 

from communities of color, and/or from 

other historically underserved and 

marginalized communities. 

Additionally, the NCBOE should 

explore ways to educate counselors and 

low-income beneficiaries about possible 

Medicare Advantage supplemental 

benefits. 

The NCBOE maintains an information 

clearinghouse on best practices and 

cost-effective methods for finding and 

enrolling older individuals and people 

with disabilities with greatest economic 

need. This clearinghouse includes 

research that could help inform and 

support the work done by the network. 

The NCBOE should consider new 

research topics, such as exploring the 

impact COVID–19 had on their health 

and finances or predictors of Medicaid 

utilization, to help agencies better 

understand the populations served. The 

NCBOE should also build on the work 

done to date to educate individuals who 

are dually eligible by conducting an 

evaluation of the My Care, My Choice 

decision support tool and its usage by 

beneficiaries and/or counselors. 

Program Name: The National Center 

for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment 

(NCBOE). 

Recipient: National Council on Aging 

(NCOA). 

Period of Performance: The award 

will be issued for the current project 

period of September 1, 2022 through 

August 31, 2023. 

Total Award Amount: $14,431,502 in 

FY 2022. 

Award Type: Cooperative Agreement 

Supplement. 

Statutory Authority: The statutory 

authority is contained in the 2006 

Reauthorization of the Older Americans 

Act and the Medicare Improvements for 

Patients and Providers Act of 2008, as 

amended by the Patient Protection and 

Affordable Care Act of 2010, and 

reauthorized by the American Taxpayer 

Relief Act of 2012, Protecting Access to 

Medicare Act of 2014, Bipartisan Budget 

Act of 2018, and Coronavirus Aid, 

Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) 

Act of 2020, and Consolidated 

Appropriations Act of 2021. 

Basis for Award: The National 

Council on Aging (NCOA) is currently 

funded to carry out the NCBOE Project 

for the period of September 1, 2020 

through August 31, 2025. Much work 

has already been completed and further 

tasks are currently being accomplished. 

It would be unnecessarily time 

consuming and disruptive to the 

NCBOE project and the beneficiaries 

being served for the ACL to establish a 

new grantee at this time when critical 

services are presently being provided in 

an efficient manner. 

NCOA is uniquely placed to complete 

the work under the NCBOE grant. Since 

2001, NCOA has been the national 

leader in improving benefits access to 

vulnerable older adults. They have an 

unparalleled history of working with 

community-based organizations to 

develop and replicate outreach and 

enrollment solutions, while maintaining 

and enhancing technology to make it 

easier and more efficient to find 

benefits. NCOA through NCBOE 

accomplishes its mission by developing 

and sharing tools, resources, best 

practices, and strategies for benefits 

outreach and enrollment via its online 

clearinghouse, electronic and print 

publications, webinars, and training and 

technical assistance. 

In addition, NCOA has 

BenefitsCheckUp which is, by far, the 

nation’s most comprehensive and 

widely-used web-based service that 

screens older and disabled adults with 

limited incomes and resources and 

informs them about public and private 

benefits for which they are very likely 

to be eligible. Since the 

BenefitsCheckUp was launched in 2001, 

nearly 9.9 million people have 

discovered $42.7 billion in benefits. In 

addition to the focus on Low-Income 

Subsidy and Medicare Savings 

Programs, BenefitsCheckUp also 

includes more than 2,500 benefits 

programs from all 50 states and DC, 

including over 50,000 local offices for 

people to apply for benefits; and more 

than 1,500 application forms in every 

language in which they are available. 

NCOA is successfully meeting all 

programmatic goals under the current 

NCBOE grant. 

Dated: May 6, 2022. 

Alison Barkoff, 

Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2022–10094 Filed 5–10–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4154–01–P 


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