Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 221 / Thursday, November 17, 2005 / Notices 69765 

• Describes their current or proposed 

policies and procedures, including 

fiscal control; 

• Describes reporting and evaluation 

procedures; 

• Narrative description of the Title 

VI, Part B, service area. The area to be 

served by Title VI, Part B, must have 

clear geographic boundaries. There is no 

prohibition, however, on its overlapping 

with areas served by Title III. 

VII. Agency Contacts 

Direct inquiries regarding 

programmatic issues to U.S. Department 

of Health and Human Services, 

Administration on Aging, Yvonne 

Jackson, Director, Office of American 

Indian, Alaskan Native and Native 

Hawaiian Programs, Washington, DC 

20201, telephone: (202) 357–3501. 

Dated: November 10, 2005. 

Josefina G. Carbonell, 

Assistant Secretary for Aging. 

[FR Doc. 05–22769 Filed 11–16–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4154–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Administration on Aging 

2005 White House Conference on 

Aging 

AGENCY: Administration on Aging, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of conference call. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 10(a) of 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act as 

amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), notice 

is hereby given that the Policy 

Committee of the 2005 White House 

Conference on Aging (WHCoA) will 

have a conference call to finalize the 

resolutions and other items related to 

the 2005 WHCoA. The conference call 

will be open to the public to listen, with 

call-ins limited to the number of 

telephone lines available. Individuals 

who plan to call in and need special 

assistance, such as TTY, should inform 

the contact person listed below in 

advance of the conference call. This 

notice is being published less than 15 

days prior to the conference call due to 

scheduling problems. 

DATES: The conference call will be held 

on Thursday, November 17, 2005, at 12 

p.m., Eastern Standard Time. 

ADDRESSES: The conference call may be 

accessed by dialing, U.S. toll-free,1–

800–857–0419, passcode: 8932323, on 

the date and time indicated above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim 

Butcher, (301) 443–2887, or e-mail at 

Kim.Butcher@whcoa.gov. Registration is 

not required. Call in is on a first come, 

first-served basis. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to the Older Americans Act 

Amendments of 2000 (Pub. L. 106–501, 

November 2000), the Policy Committee 

will have a meeting by conference call 

to finalize on the resolutions that will be 

mailed to the delegates for review prior 

to the WHCoA that is scheduled from 

December 11 to 14, 2005. The public is 

invited to listen by dialing the 

telephone number and using the 

passcode listed above under the 

ADDRESSES section. 

Dated: November 14, 2005. 

Edwin L. Walker, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. 05–22810 Filed 11–16–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4154–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

Notice of Public Input Opportunity 

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC), Department of Health 

and Human Services (HHS). 

SUMMARY: The National Institute for 

Occupational Safety and Health 

(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC) 

announces the following: 

Availability of opportunity for the 

Public to Provide Input on two 

proposed documents: 

‘‘Recommendations for Applying the 

International Labour Office (ILO) 

International Classification of 

Radiographs of Pneumoconioses in 

Medical Diagnosis, Research and 

Population Surveillance, Worker Health 

Monitoring, Government Program 

Eligibility, and Compensation Settings,’’

and 

‘‘Ethical Considerations for B 

Readers.’’

The National Institute for 

Occupational Safety and Health 

(NIOSH), acting on behalf of the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services 

(HHS), is responsible for prescribing the 

manner in which radiographs are read 

and classified for the chest x-ray 

program available to coal miners under 

the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, 

30 U.S.C. 843; 42 CFR part 37. In 

carrying out this responsibility, NIOSH 

issues B Reader certifications to 

physicians who demonstrate proficiency 

in the classification of chest radiographs 

for the pneumoconioses using the 

International Labour Office (ILO) 

Classification System. NIOSH uses these 

B Readers in its Coal Workers Health 

Surveillance Program. B Readers are 

also employed in a variety of other 

clinical, research and compensation 

settings. NIOSH is using the issuance of 

the new International Labour Office 

(ILO) Classification of Radiographs as an 

opportunity to expand its Web site on 

the B Reader Program and use of the ILO 

system. NIOSH-certified B Readers use 

the internationally-recognized ILO 

system to classify chest radiographs for 

the presence and severity of pulmonary 

parenchymal and pleural changes 

potentially caused by exposure to dusts 

such as asbestos, silica, and coal mine 

dust. The revised program Web site 

provides more information about 

radiographic reading and the ILO 

system including recommendations or 

‘‘best practices’’ for use of the ILO 

system in different settings. 

We are specifically seeking public 

comment for the draft Document: 

‘‘Recommendations for Applying the 

International Labour Office (ILO) 

International Classification of 

Radiographs of Pneumoconioses in 

Medical Diagnosis, Research and 

Population Surveillance, Worker Health 

Monitoring, Government Program 

Eligibility, and Compensation Settings.’’

This document can be found at 

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ 

chestradiography/

recommendations.html. 

At this same time, NIOSH is also 

seeking comment on its proposed 

‘‘Ethical Considerations for B Readers’’

which can be found at this same Web 

site. In a recent decision in the In Re 

Silica Products Litigation, 2005 WL 

1593936 (S.D. Tex June 30, 2005), 

Federal District Court Judge Janis Jack 

raised questions regarding the ethical 

conduct of certain physicians, some of 

whom were B Readers, in reading x-rays 

in litigation. NIOSH is proposing 

‘‘Ethical Considerations for B Readers’’

which includes a code of ethics 

modeled after those of the American 

College of Radiology and the American 

Medical Association. We welcome 

comments on this proposed code of 

ethics. 

Please review and submit your 

comments on either or both of these 

documents to CWHSP@cdc.gov. If you 

would prefer to have a hard copy rather 

than electronic, please contact NIOSH at 

this same e-mail address, and we will be 

happy to fax or mail copies of the 

documents to you. 

The documents will remain available 

for comment until January 17, 2006. 

After that date, NIOSH will consider all 

the comments submitted and make 

appropriate revisions to the document 

69766 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 221 / Thursday, November 17, 2005 / Notices 

before posting a final version on its Web 

site. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David N. Weissman, MD, CDC/NIOSH, 

Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, 

Mailstop H–2900, 1095 Willowdale 

Road, Morgantown, WV 26505, 304–

285–5749. 

Information requests can also be 

submitted by e-mail to 

CWHSP@cdc.gov. 

Dated: November 10, 2005. 

John Howard, 

Director, National Institute for Occupational 

Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 05–22762 Filed 11–16–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–19–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

Privacy Act of 1974; Report of New 

System of Records 

AGENCY: Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS) Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). 

ACTION: Notice of New System of 

Records (SOR). 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, 

we are proposing a new SOR titled, 

‘‘Medicare Premium Withhold System 

(PWS), No. 09–70–0552.’’ On December 

8, 2003, Congress passed the Medicare 

Prescription Drug, Improvement, and 

Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) 

(Public Law (Pub. L.) 108–173). Among 

other provisions, MMA allows Medicare 

payment to health plans for coverage of 

outpatient prescription drugs under the 

Medicare Part D benefit. The Social 

Security Act (the Act) provides for four 

summary payment mechanisms: Risk 

adjusted, federal reinsurance subsidies, 

risk corridor payments, and subsidized 

coverage for qualified low-income 

individuals. In addition, there is a 

premium payable by each beneficiary 

for Part D coverage, as well as the preexisting premium for Part C (now 

known as Medicare Advantage (MA)), 

created under Title II legislation. 

Beginning January 2006, MMA will 

provide enrollees in MA, and Medicare 

Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) 

plans an option to have Part C and Part 

D premiums withheld from their 

monthly retirement annuities provided 

by the Social Security Administration 

(SSA), Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), 

or Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM). The Medicare Premium 

Withhold System is the system of record 

(SOR) for maintaining and managing 

Part C and Part D beneficiary premium 

payment amounts. For 2006, two 

external agencies, the SSA and the RRB, 

provide this monthly premium 

withholding through the PWS. The 

Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug 

System (MARx) notifies SSA and RRB of 

premium amounts to be withheld and 

applicable periods on a daily basis. PWS 

uses interfaces from MARx to track 

these premium withholding amounts as 

‘‘expected.’’ PWS also uses interfaces 

with SSA and RRB to record the 

withheld premium amounts and periods 

they apply to as ‘‘actual.’’ The PWS 

notifies the appropriate MA and MAPD 

of all beneficiary withholdings and 

facilitates the payment of withheld 

premiums via the automated plan 

payment system (APPS) and the 

Financial Accounting System (FACS) 

for ultimate payment by the United 

States Treasury. 

The primary purpose of the SOR is to 

process a monthly premium withhold 

file from SSA and RRB, capture 

expected premium withholding 

amounts from MARx and compare them 

to actual withholding amounts, produce 

a reconciliation of the reported 

withholding amounts with amounts 

transferred via Governmental Payment 

and Collection (IPAC) files from SSA 

and RRB, and generate plan payment 

requests to APPS. Information in this 

system will also be disclosed to: (1) 

Support regulatory, reimbursement, and 

policy functions performed by a 

contractor or consultant contracted by 

the Agency; (2) support Medicare 

Prescription Drug Plans (PDP) and 

Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug 

Plans (MAPD) directly or through a 

CMS contractor for the administration of 

Title XVIII of the Act; (3) support 

another Federal or State agency, agency 

of a state government, an agency 

established by state law, or its fiscal 

agent; (4) support constituent requests 

made to a congressional representative; 

(5) support litigation involving the 

Agency, and (6) combat fraud and abuse 

in certain health benefits programs. We 

have provided background information 

about the modified system in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

below. Although the Privacy Act 

requires only that CMS provide an 

opportunity for interested persons to 

comment on the proposed routine uses, 

CMS invites comments on all portions 

of this notice. See EFFECTIVE DATES

section for comment period. 

DATES: Effective Dates: CMS filed a new 

system report 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 November 3, 2005. To ensure 

that all parties have adequate time in 

which to comment, the SOR, including 

routine uses, will become effective 40 

days from the publication of the notice, 

or from the date it was submitted to 

OMB and the Congress, whichever is 

later, unless CMS receives comments 

that require alterations to this notice. 

ADDRESSES: The public should address 

comments to: CMS Privacy Officer, 

Division of Privacy Compliance Data 

Development (DPCDD), CMS, Room N2–

04–27, 7500 Security Boulevard, 

Baltimore, Maryland 21244–1850. 

Comments received will be available for 

review at this location, by appointment, 

during regular business hours, Monday 

through Friday from 9 a.m.–3 p.m., 

Eastern daylight time. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Linda Bosque, Computer Technology 

Information Specialist, Division of 

Medicare Advantage Payment Systems, 

Information Services Modernization 

Group, Office of Information Services, 

CMS, Room N3–13–10, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244–

1850. The telephone number is 410–

786–0164. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CMS has 

long realized that the Medicare program 

is in the middle of a rapidly changing 

health insurance industry characterized 

by an expansion of service delivery 

models and payment options. The 

managed care provisions of the Balance 

Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 (Public Law 

105–33) combined with the MMA have 

made managing beneficiary health 

choices one of the most critical 

challenges facing CMS and the health 

industry at large. To be of maximum 

use, the data must be organized and 

categorized into comprehensive 

interrelated systems. 

The Medicare Premium Withhold 

System (PWS) is a new system that 

helps remove barriers to beneficiary 

enrollment in Medicare’s new 

prescription drug benefits, which will 

be offered by MAPDs and PDPs effective 

January 1, 2006. Through the PWS, CMS 

has extended to both Part C and Part D 

enrollees the option of withholding 

their monthly premium amounts from 

retirement annuities provided by 

external agencies, including SSA and 

RRB (and OPM in future releases of the 

system). The PWS builds upon the 

Enterprise Data Exchange with these 

three agencies, adding data stores and 

reporting capabilities in order to