[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 231 (Friday, December 2, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72302-72303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-23582]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Request for Public Comment; Public Meetings in Calendar Years 
2005 and 2006; Economic Impact of Federal Health Care Regulations

AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the dates and locations of the 
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) Town Hall meetings to be 
held in calendar years 2005 and 2006 to solicit public comment on 
quantifying the economic impact of major Federal regulations governing 
the health care industry. These public meetings provide a forum for 
interested parties to make oral presentations and/or to submit written 
comments about the impact of regulations. In particular, commenters are 
requested to provide an estimate of the economic impact of Federal 
health care regulations, guidance documents, or paperwork requirements, 
and also to describe the methods used to calculate the economic impact 
of the regulations. The Town Hall meetings will be held in several 
cities across the country to provide an opportunity for input. In 
addition, individuals may also submit written comments for 
consideration regardless of their ability to attend the Town Hall 
meetings.

DATES: Meeting Dates: The first Town Hall meeting was held on November 
3, 2005, in Washington, DC. The remaining meetings will be held on 
December 8, 2005 in Chicago, Illinois; January 12, 2006 in Oklahoma 
City, Oklahoma; and February 2, 2006 in San Francisco, California. 
Information about the Town Hall meetings and registration procedures 
are available on the Web site http://aspe.hhs.gov/arrb/index.shtml.
    Each meeting day will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. (in the 
respective cities' time zones). On-site registration and sign-up for 
public comments will open one hour before each meeting. Participants 
are encouraged to pre-register for the meetings (see below for 
registration information).

ADDRESSES: The December 8, 2005 Town Hall meeting will be held at: 
Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel Chicago, 163 East Walton Place @ North 
Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611. Telephone: 312-751-8100. Fax: 312-
751-9205.
    The January 12, 2006 Town Hall meeting will be held at: The 
Sheraton Oklahoma City, One North Broadway, Oklahoma City, OK 73102. 
Telephone: 405-235-2780. Fax: 405-232-4782.
    The February 2, 2006 Town Hall meeting will be held at: Hilton San 
Francisco Fisherman's Wharf, 2620 Jones Street, San Francisco, CA 
94133. Telephone: 415-885-4700. Fax: 415-771-8945.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marty McGeein, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 200 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20201. Telephone: (202) 690-6443.
    Web site: Additional details regarding the Town Hall meeting 
process for public comments on the economic impact of Federal health 
care regulations, along with information on how to register and 
guidelines for an effective presentation and/or electronic comment 
submission, can be found on the project Web site at: http://aspe.hhs.gov/arrb/index.shtml.



[[Page 72303]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    House Appropriations Committee Report 108-636 includes a provision 
for the Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Planning and 
Evaluation (HHS/ASPE) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to 
establish an interagency committee, to be coordinated by HHS. The 
committee's role is to examine major Federal regulations governing the 
health care industry and to make suggestions regarding how health care 
regulation could be coordinated and simplified to reduce costs and 
burdens and improve translation of biomedical research into medical 
practice, while continuing to protect patients. The interagency 
committee will examine the economic impact of the major Federal 
regulations governing the health care industry, and will explore both 
immediate steps and longer-term proposals for reducing regulatory 
burden, while maintaining the highest quality health care and other 
patient protections.
    In accord with the House Appropriations Committee's intent, ASPE 
and OMB have undertaken several complementary activities. The HHS/OMB 
interagency committee is conducting a comprehensive review of Federal 
health care regulations, guidance, and paperwork requirements in order 
to identify areas for reform. In order to facilitate the work of this 
committee, ASPE and OMB are soliciting public nominations of regulatory 
reforms in several ways. First, we published a notice in the Federal 
Register on October 4, 2005, soliciting public nominations of reforms. 
Second, we are holding a series of Town Hall meetings in several cities 
across the country to provide an opportunity for input from health care 
administrators, institutional providers, physicians, practitioners, 
patients, and others about the impact of regulations, and to identify 
other potential areas for reform.
    The purpose of this Federal Register notice is to give potential 
participants in these Town Hall meetings more information regarding how 
their participation and the information they provide can facilitate the 
consideration of their suggestions for regulatory reform. In 
particular, participants in the Town Hall meetings and individuals who 
submit written comments are requested to provide, to the extent 
feasible, an estimate of the economic impact of health care 
regulations, guidance documents, or paperwork requirements, and also to 
describe the methods used to calculate the economic impact of the 
regulations. The findings from the Town Hall meetings, other reform 
nominations and comments from the public, and the subsequent work of 
the HHS/OMB committee will be synthesized and included in a report to 
Congress.

II. Registration

    Registration Procedures: Registration can be completed online at 
http://aspe.hhs.gov/arrb/index.shtml. To register by telephone, contact 
Bridgette Saunders of Social and Scientific Systems at (301) 628-3158. 
(Social and Scientific Systems is the Contractor to HHS/ASPE to provide 
logistical support for the Town Hall meetings.) The following 
information must be provided when registering: Name, organization name 
and address, and consent to publish contact information on a 
participants list and other reports to document the Town Hall Meeting. 
A Social & Scientific Systems, Inc. staff member will confirm your 
registration by mail, e-mail, or fax.

III. Presentations and Comment Format

A. ``5-Minute'' Public Comment Presentations

    Meeting attendees can sign up at the meeting, on a first-come, 
first-served basis, to make 5-minute presentations. We ask that 
commenters focus on the economic impacts of health care regulations, 
and quantify these impacts to the extent possible. Depending on the 
number of persons who sign up to make public comments, we will decide 
whether additional time will be allotted. In order to offer the same 
opportunity to all attendees, there is no pre-registration for 5-minute 
speakers. Attendees can sign up only on the day of the meeting to make 
a 5-minute presentation. They must provide their name, title, and 
organization name on the sign-up sheet, and identify the general area 
of health care regulation that they will address.

B. Written Comments From Meeting Attendees

    Written comments are welcome from the public regardless of 
attendance at a Town Hall Meeting or whether they make an oral 
presentation at a Town Hall Meeting. Written comments can be submitted 
either at the meeting, or before or after the meeting via e-mail to the 
mailboxes specified on the project Web site: http://aspe.hhs.gov/arrb/index.shtml or via regular mail to Marty McGeein, Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 200 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201. Please note that electronic 
submissions are preferred due to delays in receiving U.S. Postal Mail. 
We are able to consider only those comments received in writing and/or 
via e-mail by 5 p.m. EST on February 9, 2006.

IV. Special Accommodations

    Individuals attending a meeting who are hearing- or visually-
impaired and have special requirements, or a condition that requires 
special assistance or accommodations, must provide this information 
when registering for the meeting and accommodations will be made.

    Dated: November 29, 2005.
Donald Young,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), HHS.
John D. Graham,
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), 
OMB.
[FR Doc. 05-23582 Filed 12-1-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-05-P