2024-01383. Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing an opportunity for the public to comment on CMS' intention to collect information from the public. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension or reinstatement of an existing collection of information, and to allow a second opportunity for public comment on the notice. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency's functions, the accuracy of the estimated burden, ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

DATES:

Comments on the collection(s) of information must be received by the OMB desk officer by February 26, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

To obtain copies of a supporting statement and any related forms for the proposed collection(s) summarized in this notice, please access the CMS PRA website by copying and pasting the following web address into your web browser: https://www.cms.gov/​Regulations-and-Guidance/​Legislation/​PaperworkReductionActof1995/​PRA-Listing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Parham at (410) 786–4669.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. The term “collection of information” is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and includes agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires Federal agencies to publish a 30-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension or reinstatement of an existing collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, CMS is publishing this notice that summarizes the following proposed collection(s) of information for public comment:

1. Type of Information Collection Request: Revision of a currently approved Information Collection; Title of Information Collection: CMS Plan Benefit Package (PBP) and Formulary CY 2025; Use: Under the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), Medicare Advantage (MA) and Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) organizations are required to submit plan benefit packages for all Medicare beneficiaries residing in their service area. The plan benefit package submission consists of the Plan Benefit Package (PBP) software, formulary file, and supporting documentation, as necessary. MA and PDP organizations use the PBP software to describe their organization's plan benefit packages, including information on premiums, cost sharing, authorization rules, and supplemental benefits. They also generate a formulary to describe their list of drugs, including information on prior authorization, step therapy, tiering, and quantity limits.

CMS requires that MA and PDP organizations submit a completed PBP and formulary as part of the annual bidding process. During this process, organizations prepare their proposed plan benefit packages for the upcoming contract year and submit them to CMS for review and approval. CMS uses this data to review and approve the benefit packages that the plans will offer to Medicare beneficiaries. This allows CMS to review the benefit packages in a consistent way across all submitted bids during with incredibly tight timeframes. This data is also used to populate data on Medicare Plan Finder, which allows beneficiaries to access and compare Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug plans. Form Number: CMS–R–262 (OMB control number: 0938–0763); Frequency: Yearly; Affected Public: Private Sector, Business or other for-profits and Not-for-profit institutions; Number of Respondents: 825; Total Annual Responses: 8,770; Total Annual Hours: 55,782 (For policy questions regarding this collection contact Kristy Holtje at 410–786–2209.)

2. Type of Information Collection Request: Revision of a currently approved information collection; Title of Information Collection: Satisfaction of Nursing Homes, Hospitals, and Outpatient Clinicians Working with the CMS Network of Quality Improvement and Innovation Contractors Program (NQIIC); Use: The purpose of this Information Collection Request (ICR) is to collect data to inform the program evaluation of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN–QIO) and Hospital Quality Improvement Contractors (HQIC) programs under the Network of Quality Improvement and Innovation Contractors (NQIIC) contract vehicle. This is a revision package. First, we updated the Nursing Home and Hospital Surveys to cover all the quality improvement focus areas targeted by NQIIC awardees, removed some but not all COVID–19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) related questions to reflect the progress of Federal health program ( e.g., Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Project Echo program was officially ended in August 2021), and made minor refinements based on the first round of survey fielding. Second, we added the Outpatient Clinician Survey in the same revision package since all three surveys are conducted under the same NQIIC contract.

This revision package supports evaluation of the technical assistance provided by the QINQIO Program to nursing homes and outpatient clinicians in community settings, and Hospital Quality Improvement Contractors (HQIC) Program activities to support hospitals. This ICR is part of a larger evaluation of the overall impact of the NQIIC Program. Form Number: CMS–10769 (OMB control number: 0938–1424); Frequency: Yearly; Affected Public: State and Private Sector (Business or other for-profits); Number of Respondents: 1,900; Total Annual Responses: 1,900; Total Annual Hours: 559. (For policy questions regarding this collection, contact Jeff Mokry at 214–767–4021.)

Dated: January 19, 2024.

William N. Parham, III,

Director, Division of Information Collections and Regulatory Impacts, Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs.