Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 204 / Monday, October 24, 2005 / Notices 61435 

assignment of the PreMDC DRGs. This 

resulted in all neonate tracheostomies 

and organ transplants to be grouped to 

MDC 15 and not to DRGs 480–483 or 

495. For admissions occurring on or 

after October 1, 1998, the CHAMPUS 

grouper hierarchy logic was changed to 

move DRG 103 to the PreMDC DRGs and 

to assign patients to PreMDC DRGs 480, 

103 and 495 before assignment to MDC 

15 DRGs and the neonatal DRGs. For 

admissions occurring on or after 

October 1, 2001, DRGs 512 and 513 

were added to the PreMDC DRGs, 

between DRGs 480 and 103 in the 

TRICARE grouper hierarchy logic. For 

admissions occurring on or after 

October 1, 2004, DRG 483 was deleted 

and replaced with DRGs 541 and 542, 

splitting the assignment of cases on the 

basis of the performance of a major 

operating room procedure. The 

description for DRG 480 was changed to 

‘‘Liver Transplant and/or Intestinal 

Transplant’’, and the description for 

DRG 103 was changed to ‘‘Heart/Heart 

Lung Transplant or Implant of Heart 

Assist System’’. For FY 2006, CMS will 

implement classification changes, 

including surgical hierarchy changes. 

The TRICARE Grouper will incorporate 

all changes made to the Medicare 

Grouper. 

B. Wage Index and Medicare 

Geographic Classification Review Board 

Guidelines 

TRICARE will continue to use the 

same wage index amounts used for the 

Medicare PPS. TRICARE will also 

duplicate all changes with regard to the 

wage index for specific hospitals that 

are redesignated by the Medicare 

Geographic Classification Review Board. 

In addition, TRICARE will continue to 

utilize the out commuting wage index 

adjustment. 

C. Revision of the Labor-Related Share 

of the Wage Index 

TRICARE is adopting CMS’

percentage of labor related share of the 

standardized amount. For wage index 

values greater than 1.0, the labor-related 

portion of the ASA shall equal 69.7 

percent. For wage index values less than 

or equal to 1.0 the labor-related portion 

of the ASA shall continue to equal 62 

percent. 

D. Hospital Market Basket 

TRICARE will update the adjusted 

standardized amounts according to the 

final updated hospital market basket 

used for the Medicare PPS for all 

hospitals subject to the TRICARE DRGbased payment system according to 

CMS’s August 12, 2005, final rule. 

E. Outlier Payments 

Since TRICARE does not include 

capital payments in our DRG-based 

payments (TRICARE reimburses 

hospitals for their capital costs as 

reported annually to the contractor on a 

pass through basis), we will use the 

fixed loss cost outlier threshold 

calculated by CMS for paying cost 

outliers in the absence of capital 

prospective payments. For FY 2006, the 

fixed loss cost outlier threshold is based 

on the sum of the applicable DRG-based 

payment rate plus any amounts payable 

for IDME plus a fixed dollar amount. 

Thus, for FY 2006, in order for a case 

to qualify for cost outlier payments, the 

costs must exceed the TRICARE DRG 

base payment rate (wage adjusted) for 

the DRG plus the IDME payment plus 

$21,783 (wage adjusted). The marginal 

cost factor for cost outliers continues to 

be 80 percent. 

F. National Operating Standard Cost as 

a Share of Total Costs 

The FY 2006 TRICARE National 

Operating Standard Cost as a Share of 

Total Costs (NOSCASTC) used in 

calculating the cost outlier threshold is 

0.923. TRICARE uses the same 

methodology as CMS for calculating the 

NOSCASTC however, the variables are 

different because TRICARE uses 

national cost to charge ratios while CMS 

uses hospital specific cost to charge 

ratios. 

G. Indirect Medical Education (IDME) 

Adjustment 

Passage of the MMA of 2003 modified 

the formula multipliers to be used in the 

calculation of the indirect medical 

education IDME adjustment factor. 

Since the IDME formula used by 

TRICARE does not include 

disproportionate share hospitals (DSHs), 

the variables in the formula are different 

than Medicare’s however; the 

percentage reductions that will be 

applied to Medicare’s formula will also 

be applied to the TRICARE IDME 

formula. The new multiplier for the 

IDME adjustment factor for TRICARE for 

FY 2006 is 1.04. 

H. Expansion of the Post Acute Care 

Transfer Policy 

For FY 2006 TRICARE is adopting 

CMS’ expanded post acute care transfer 

policy according to CMS’ final rule 

published August 12, 2005. 

I. Blood Clotting Factor 

For FY 2006, TRICARE is adopting 

CMS’ payment methodology for blood 

clotting factor according to CMS’ final 

rule published August 12, 2005. 

II. Cost to Charge Ratio 

While CMS uses hospital-specific cost 

to charge ratios, TRICARE uses a 

national cost to charge ratio. For FY 

2006, the cost-to-charge ratio used for 

the TRICARE DRG-based payment 

system will be 0.4060, which is 

increased to 0.4130 to account for bad 

debts. This shall be used to calculate the 

adjusted standardized amounts and to 

calculate cost outlier payments, except 

for children’s hospitals. For children’s 

hospital cost outliers, the cost-to-charge 

ratio used is 0.4468. For FY 2006, the 

neonatal cost-to-charge ratio of .64 is 

being reduced to the same cost-to-charge 

ratio of .4130 for acute care hospitals. 

III. Updated Rates and Weights 

The updated rates and weights are 

accessible through the Internet at http:// 

www.tricare.osd.mil under the 

sequential headings TRICARE Provider 

Information, Rates and Reimbursements, 

and DRG Information. Table 1 provides 

the ASA rates and Table 2 provides the 

DRG weights to be used under the 

TRICARE DRG-based payment system 

during FY 2006 and which is a result of 

the changes described above. The 

implementing regulations for the 

TRICARE/CHAMPUS DRG-based 

payment system are in 32 CFR Part 199. 

Dated: October 18, 2005. 

L.M. Bynum, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 05–21184 Filed 10–21–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–M 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

Senior Executive Service Performance 

Review Board 

AGENCY: Department of Defense Office 

of the Inspector General. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

appointment of the members of the 

Senior Executive Service (SES) 

Performance Review Board (PRB) for the 

Department of Defense Office of the 

Inspector General (DoD OIG), as 

required by 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(4). The 

PRB provides fair and impartial review 

of SES performance appraisals and 

makes recommendations regarding 

performance ratings and performance 

awards to the Inspector General. 

DATES: October 20, 2005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Michael Peterson, Director, Human 

Capital Management Directorate, Office 

61436 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 204 / Monday, October 24, 2005 / Notices 

of the Chief of Staff, OIG DoD, 400 Army 

Navy Drive, Arlington, VA 22202, (703) 

602–4516. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(4), the 

following executives are appointed to 

the DoD OIG, PRB: 

Charles W. Beardall, Director, Defense 

Criminal Investigative Service, 

Assistant Inspector General for 

Investigations, ODIG–INV. 

Patricia A. Brannin, Assistant Inspector 

General for Audit Policy and 

Oversight, ODIG–I&P. 

Paul J. Granetto, Assistant Inspector 

General for Defense Financial 

Auditing Service, ODIG–AUD. 

L. Jerry Hansen, Deputy Inspector 

General for Inspections and Policy. 

Melissa Heist, Assistant Inspector 

General for Audit, Environmental 

Protection Agency. 

Donald M. Horstman, Director of 

Investigations of Senior Officials, 

ODIG–INV. 

William B. Morrison, Assistant 

Inspector General for Inspections and 

Evaluations, ODIG–I&P. 

Richard T. Race, Deputy Inspector 

General for Investigations. 

Francis E. Reardon, Deputy Inspector 

General for Auditing. 

George Rippey, Deputy Assistant 

Inspector General for Audit Services, 

Department of Education. 

Linda Snider, Director for Audit Policy 

and Administration Sanford Parnes 

Counsel to the Inspector General, 

Department of Energy. 

Mary L. Ugone, Assistant Inspector 

General for Acquisition and 

Technology Management, ODIG–

AUD. 

R. Keith West, Assistant Inspector 

General for Audit Follow-Up and 

Technical Support, ODIG–AUD. 

Eugene L. Waszily, Assistant Inspector 

General for Auditing, General 

Services Administration. 

Daniel F. Willkens, Deputy Director, 

Defense Criminal Investigative 

Service, ODIG–INV. 

Shelton R. Young, Assistant Inspector 

General for Intelligence, ODIG–

INTEL. 

Dated: October 18, 2005. 

L.M. Bynum, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 05–21183 Filed 10–21–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–M 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

SUMMARY: The Leader, Information 

Management Case Services Team, 

Regulatory Information Management 

Services, Office of the Chief Information 

Officer invites comments on the 

submission for OMB review as required 

by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before 

November 23, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be addressed to the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Attention: Rachel Potter, Desk Officer, 

Department of Education, Office of 

Management and Budget, 725 17th 

Street, NW., Room 10222, New 

Executive Office Building, Washington, 

DC 20503 or faxed to (202) 395–6974. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) provide interested 

Federal agencies and the public an early 

opportunity to comment on information 

collection requests. OMB may amend or 

waive the requirement for public 

consultation to the extent that public 

participation in the approval process 

would defeat the purpose of the 

information collection, violate State or 

Federal law, or substantially interfere 

with any agency’s ability to perform its 

statutory obligations. The Leader, 

Information Management Case Services 

Team, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of the 

Chief Information Officer, publishes that 

notice containing proposed information 

collection requests prior to submission 

of these requests to OMB. Each 

proposed information collection, 

grouped by office, contains the 

following: (1) Type of review requested, 

e.g. new, revision, extension, existing or 

reinstatement; (2) Title; (3) Summary of 

the collection; (4) Description of the 

need for, and proposed use of, the 

information; (5) Respondents and 

frequency of collection; and (6) 

Reporting and/or Recordkeeping 

burden. OMB invites public comment. 

Dated: October 18, 2005. 

Angela C. Arrington, 

Leader, Information Management Case 

Services Team, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

Office of Intergovernmental and 

Interagency Affairs 

Type of Review: Revision. 

Title: No Child Left Behind—Blue 

Ribbon Schools Program. 

Frequency: One time. 

Affected Public: State, local, or tribal 

gov’t, SEAs or LEAs; Not-for-profit 

institutions. 

Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour 

Burden: 

Responses: 413. 

Burden Hours: 16,420. 

Abstract: The purpose of the program 

is to recognize and present as models 

elementary and secondary schools in 

the United States with high numbers of 

students from disadvantaged 

backgrounds that dramatically improve 

student performance to a high level on 

state or nationally-normed assessments 

and to recognize schools whose students 

achieve in the top 10 percent on state 

or nationally-normed assessments. 

Requests for copies of the information 

collection submission for OMB review 

may be accessed from http:// 

edicsweb.ed.gov, by selecting the 

‘‘Browse Pending Collections’’ link and 

by clicking on link number 2862. When 

you access the information collection, 

click on ‘‘Download Attachments’ to 

view. Written requests for information 

should be addressed to U.S. Department 

of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, 

SW., Potomac Center, 9th Floor, 

Washington, DC 20202–4700. Requests 

may also be electronically mailed to the 

Internet address OCIO_RIMG@ed.gov or 

faxed to 202–245–6623. Please specify 

the complete title of the information 

collection when making your request. 

Comments regarding burden and/or 

the collection activity requirements 

should be directed to Katrina Ingalls at 

her e-mail address 

Katrina.Ingalls@ed.gov. Individuals who 

use a telecommunications device for the 

deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–

800–877–8339. 

[FR Doc. 05–21204 Filed 10–21–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Privacy Act of 1974; System of 

Records—Presidential Scholars 

Program Files and PSAonline 

Application System (18–06–03) 

AGENCY: Office of Communications and 

Outreach, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Notice of an altered system of 

records. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Privacy Act of 1974, as amended 

(Privacy Act), we publish this notice to 

amend the system of records entitled 

‘‘Presidential Scholars Program Files 

and PSAonline Application System’’

(18–06–03) to reflect the fact that the 

general support system for the