Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 112 / Monday, June 10, 1996 / Notices 29409

PHS mission to protect and advance the

physical and mental health of the

American people.

DATES: To receive consideration for

funding, individuals must submit their

applications by September 1, 1996.

Applications shall be considered as

meeting the deadline if they are either:

(1) received on or before the deadline

date; or

(2) sent on or before the deadline and

received in time for submission to the

reviewing program official. (Applicants

should request a legibly dated U.S.

Postal Service postmark or obtain a

legibly dated receipt from a commercial

carrier or U.S. Postal Service. Private

metered postmarks shall not be

acceptable as proof of timely mailing).

Late applications will not be

considered for funding in FY 1996, but

may be kept on file for consideration in

FY 1997.

ADDRESSES: Application materials with

a list of counties (parishes) with the

greatest shortage of nurses may be

obtained by calling or writing to:

Sharley Chen, Chief, Loan Repayment

Programs Branch, Division of

Scholarships and Loan Repayments,

Bureau of Primary Health Care, HRSA,

4350 East-West Highway, 10th Floor,

Bethesda, MD 20814, (301–594–4400).

The 24-hour toll-free phone number is

1–800–435–6464 and the FAX number

is (301) 594–4981. Completed

applications should be mailed to the

same address. The application form has

been approved under Office of

Management and Budget (OMB)

Number 0915–0140.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

further program information and

technical assistance, please contact the

Branch Chief at the above address,

phone or FAX number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

846 of the PHS Act provides that the

Secretary will repay a portion of an

individual’s educational loans incurred

for nursing education costs if that

individual enters into a contract with

the Secretary to serve as a registered

nurse for not less than 2 years in a

variety of eligible health facilities or in

a health facility determined by the

Secretary to have a critical shortage of

nurses. For an individual who is

selected to participate in this program,

repayment shall be on the following

basis:

(1) By the completion of the first year

of agreed service, the Secretary will

have paid 30 percent of the principal of,

and interest on, the outstanding balance

on each qualified loan as of the

beginning date of service;

(2) By the completion of the second

year of agreed service, the Secretary will

have paid another 30 percent of the

principal of, and interest on, the

outstanding balance of each qualified

loan as of the beginning date of service;

and

(3) By the completion of a third year

of agreed service, if applicable, the

Secretary will have paid another 25

percent of the principal of, and interest

on, the outstanding balance of each

qualified loan as of the beginning date

of service (option for third year of

service is dependent on the availability

of funds).

No more than 85 percent of the

principal balance of any qualified loan

which was unpaid as of the beginning

date of service will be paid under this

program.

Prior to entering a contract for

repayment of loans, other than Nursing

Student Loans, the Secretary will

require that satisfactory evidence be

provided of the existence and

reasonableness of the educational loans.

These loan repayment amounts are

unrelated to any salary paid to the

nursing education loan repayment

recipient by the health facility by which

he or she has been employed.

To be eligible to participate in this

program, an individual must:

(1) Have received, prior to the start of

service, a baccalaureate or associate

degree in nursing, a diploma in nursing,

or a graduate degree in nursing;

(2) Have outstanding educational

loans for the costs of his/her nursing

education;

(3) Agree to be employed full-time for

not less than 2 years in any of the

following types of eligible health

facilities: an Indian Health Service

health center; a Native Hawaiian health

center; a public hospital (operated by a

State, county, or local government); a

community or migrant health center

[Sections 330(a) and 329(a)(1) of the

PHS Act]; a Federally Qualified Health

Center receiving Sections 330 or 329

funding; a rural health clinic (Section

1861 (aa)(2) of the Social Security Act);

or a public or nonprofit private health

facility determined by the Secretary to

have a critical shortage of nurses; and

(4) Currently be employed or plan to

begin employment as a registered nurse

no later than July 31, 1996.

Funding Preferences

As required under Section 846, the

Secretary will give preference to

qualified applicants:

(1) Who have the greatest financial

need; and

(2) Who agree to serve in the types of

health facilities described in paragraph

(3) above, that are located in geographic

areas determined by the Secretary to

have a shortage of and need for nurses.

Breach of Contract

Participants in this program who fail

to provide health services for the period

specified in their contract with the

Secretary, shall be liable to the Federal

Government for payments made by the

Secretary during the service period

pursuant to such contract, plus interest

on this amount at the maximum legal

prevailing rate, payable within 3 years

from the date the contract with the

Secretary is breached.

Waiver or Suspension of Liability

A waiver or suspension of liability

may be granted by the Secretary if

compliance with the contract with the

Secretary by the individual participant

is impossible, or would involve extreme

hardship to the individual, and if

enforcement of the contract with respect

to the individual would be

unconscionable.

Other Award Information

This program is not subject to the

provisions of Executive Order 12372,

Intergovernmental Review of Federal

Programs, since payments to individuals

are not covered. In addition, this

program is not subject to the submission

of a Public Health System Impact

Statement.

The OMB Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance number for this program is

93.908.

Dated: June 3, 1996.

Ciro V. Sumaya,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 96–14306 Filed 6–7–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160–15–P

Health Care Financing Administration

[ORD–087–N]

New and Pending Demonstration

Project Proposals Submitted Pursuant

to Section 1115(a) of the Social

Security Act: April 1996

AGENCY: Health Care Financing

Administration (HCFA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: No new proposals for

Medicaid demonstration projects were

submitted to the Department of Health

and Human Services during the month

of April 1996 under the authority of

section 1115 of the Social Security Act.

This notice lists proposals that were

approved or are pending during the

month of April. None were disapproved

or withdrawn during this time period.
29410 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 112 / Monday, June 10, 1996 / Notices

(This notice can be accessed on the

Internet at HTTP://WWW.HCFA.GOV/

ORD/ORDHP1.HTML.)

COMMENTS: We will accept written

comments on these proposals. We will,

if feasible, acknowledge receipt of all

comments, but we will not provide

written responses to comments. We

will, however, neither approve nor

disapprove any new proposal for at least

30 days after the date of this notice to

allow time to receive and consider

comments. Direct comments as

indicated below.

ADDRESSES: Mail correspondence to:

Susan Anderson, Office of Research and

Demonstrations, Health Care Financing

Administration, Mail Stop C3–11–07,

7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD

21244–1850.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Susan Anderson, (410) 786–3996.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Under section 1115 of the Social

Security Act (the Act), the Department

of Health and Human Services (HHS)

may consider and approve research and

demonstration proposals with a broad

range of policy objectives. These

demonstrations can lead to

improvements in achieving the

purposes of the Act.

In exercising her discretionary

authority, the Secretary has developed a

number of policies and procedures for

reviewing proposals. On September 27,

1994, we published a notice in the

Federal Register (59 FR 49249) that

specified (1) The principles that we

ordinarily will consider when

approving or disapproving

demonstration projects under the

authority in section 1115(a) of the Act;

(2) the procedures we expect States to

use in involving the public in the

development of proposed demonstration

projects under section 1115; and (3) the

procedures we ordinarily will follow in

reviewing demonstration proposals. We

are committed to a thorough and

expeditious review of State requests to

conduct such demonstrations.

As part of our procedures, we publish

a notice in the Federal Register with a

monthly listing of all new submissions,

pending proposals, approvals,

disapprovals, and withdrawn proposals.

Proposals submitted in response to a

grant solicitation or other competitive

process are reported as received during

the month that such grant or bid is

awarded, so as to prevent interference

with the awards process.

II. Listing of New, Pending, Approved,

and Withdrawn Proposals for the

Month of April 1996

A. Comprehensive Health Reform

Programs:

1. New Proposals

No new proposals were received

during the month of April.

2. Pending Proposals

Pending proposals for the month of

April remain the same with the

exception of the Medicaid

Demonstration Project for Los Angeles

County, California which was approved.

See below 4. Approved Proposals for

further description. Pending proposals

for the month of November 1995

published in the Federal Register on

January 23, 1996, 61 FR 1769, remain

unchanged.

3. Approved Conceptual Proposals

(Awards of Waivers Pending.)

No conceptual proposals were

approved during the month of April.

4. Approved Proposals

The following comprehensive health

reform proposal was approved during

the month of April.

Demonstration Title/State: Medicaid

Demonstration Project for Los Angeles

County—California.

Description: The State demonstration

will stabilize the County health care

system and foster a restructuring

process that is responsible to the needs

of the community.

Date Received: February 29, 1996.

Date Approved: April 26, 1996.

State Contact: John Rodriguez, Deputy

Director, Medical Care Services,

Department of Health Services, 714/744

P Street, P.O. Box 942732, Sacramento,

CA 94234–7320, (916) 654–0391.

Federal Project Officer: Gina Clemons,

Health Care Financing Administration,

Office of Research and Demonstrations,

Office of State Health Reform

Demonstrations, Mail Stop C3–18–26,

7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD

21244–1850.

5. Disapproved Proposals

No proposals were disapproved

during the month of April.

6. Withdrawn Proposals

No proposals were withdrawn during

the month of April.

B. Other Section 1115 Demonstration

Proposals

1. New Proposals

No new proposals were received

during the month of April.

2. Pending, Approved, and Withdrawn

Proposals

We did not approve or disapprove any

Other Section 1115 Demonstration

Proposals during April nor were any

proposals withdrawn during that

month. Pending proposals for the month

of November 1995 published in the

Federal Register on January 23, 1996, 61

FR 1769, and for the months of February

and March 1996 published in the

Federal Register on May 14, 1996, 61

FR 24318 remain unchanged.

III. Requests for Copies of a Proposal

Requests for copies of a specific

Medicaid proposal should be made to

the State contact listed for the specific

proposal. If further help or information

is needed, inquiries should be directed

to HCFA at the address above.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program, No. 93.779; Health Financing

Research, Demonstrations, and Experiments.)

Dated: May 28, 1996.

Barbara Cooper,

Acting Director, Office of Research and

Demonstrations.

[FR Doc. 96–14596 Filed 6–7–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P

Health Resources and Services

Administration

Program Announcement and Review

Criteria for a Cooperative Agreement

To Support Innovative Projects

Relating to Public Health Education

and Services

The Health Resources and Services

Administration (HRSA) announces that

applications will be accepted for a

Cooperative Agreement for fiscal year

1996 with a professional association

located in the Washington, D.C. area

with an established relationship with

the accredited schools of public health.

Such an association should be

recognized as a National representative

of schools of public health; have

proprietary information concerning

student enrollment, graduates, faculty

and curricula in schools of public

health; and have access to the

leadership in schools of public health.

The purpose of the Cooperative

Agreement is to support a program of

innovative projects which would

demonstrate the sharing of expertise

between public health faculty and

public health practitioners in States and

communities, to both improve public

health and health care services at the

State and community level and provide

meaningful feedback to schools of

public health concerning the efficacy of

their curricula in educating and training