[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 197 (Wednesday, October 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55480-55481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-26597]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Health
Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) to request the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) to allow the proposed information collection project:
1999-2001 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey--Insurance Component (MEPS-
IC). In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law
104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), AHCPR invites the public to comment
on this proposed information collection.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by December 13, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: Cynthia McMichael,
Reports Clearance Officer, AHCPR, 2101 East Jefferson Street, Suite
500, Rockville, MD 20852-4908.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and included in the request for OMB approval of the proposed
information collection. All comments will become a matter of public
record.
In accordance with the above cited legislation, comments on the
AHCPR information collection proposal are requested with regard to any
of the following: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of functions of the Agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the
accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden (including hours and
costs) of the proposed collection information; (c) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
(d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Copies of the proposed collection plans, data collection
instruments, and specific details on the estimated burden can be
obtained from the AHCPR Reports Clearance Officer.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia McMichael, AHCPR Reports
Clearance Officer, (301) 594-6659.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Project
1999-2001 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey--Insurance Component (MEPS-
IC).
The MEPS-IC, an annual survey of the characteristics of employer-
sponsored health insurance, was first conducted by AHCPR in 1997,
seeking data pertaining to the calendar year 1996. The survey has since
been conducted annually for calendar years 1997 and 1998. AHCPR
proposes to continue this annual survey of establishments for calendar
years 1999 through 2001. The survey data for calendar year 1999 will be
collected in 2000. Likewise, calendar year 2000 data will be collected
in 2001 and calendar year 2001 data in 2002. The survey will collect
information from both public and private employers.
This survey will be conducted for AHCPR by the Bureau of the Census
using a sample comprised of:
1. Employers selected from Census Bureau lists of private sector
employers and government employers (known as the List Sample); and
2. Employers identified by respondents to the MEPS-Household
Component (MEPS-HC) for the same calendar year (known as the Household
Sample). The MEPS-HC is an annual household survey designed to collect
information concerning health care expenditures and related data for
individuals.
Data to be collected from each employer will include a description
of the business (e.g., size, industry) and descriptions of health
insurance plans available, plan enrollments, total plan costs and costs
to employees.
Data Confidentiality Provisions
MEPS-IC List Sample data confidentiality is protected under section
9 of Title 13, United States Code (the U.S. Census Bureau statute).
MEPS-IC Household Sample data confidentiality is protected under
sections 308(d) and 903(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
242m and 42 U.S.C. 299a-1). Section 308(d), the confidentiality statute
of the National Center for Health Statistics, is applicable because the
MEPS-HC sample is derived from respondents of an earlier NCHS survey.
Section 903(c) is the confidentiality statute of AHCPR. All data
products listed below must fully comply with the data confidentiality
statute under which the raw data was collected.
Data Products
Data will be produced in three forms: (1) Files derived from the
Household
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Sample, which can be linked back to other information from household
respondents in the MEPS-HC; (2) files containing employer information
from the List Sample (available for use by researchers at the Census
Bureau's Research Data Centers); and (3) a large compendium of tables
of estimates based on the List Sample (available on the AHCPR website).
These tables will contain descriptive statistics, such as, numbers of
establishments offering health insurance, average premiums, average
contributions, total enrollments, numbers of self insured
establishments and other related statistics for a large number of
population subsets defined by firm size, state, industry and
establishment characteristics, such as, age, profit/nonprofit status
and union/nonunion.
The data are intended to be used for purposes such as:
Generating national and State estimates of employer health
care offerings;
Producing estimates to support the Bureau of Economic
Analysis within the Department of Commerce and the Health Care
Financing Administration in their respective calculations of health
care expenditures for the Gross Domestic Product and National Health
Accounts (annual totals for various categories of health care
expenditures for the United States);
Producing national and State estimates of spending on
employer-sponsored health insurance to study the results of national
and State health care policies;
Supplying data for modeling the demand for health
insurance; and
Providing data on health plan choices, costs, and benefits
that can be linked back to households' use of health care resources as
were reported in the MEPS-HC survey for studies of the consumer health
care selection process.
These data will provide the basis for researchers to address
important questions for the benefit of employers and policymakers
alike.
Method of Collection
The data will be collected using a combination of modes. the Census
Bureau's first contact with employers will be made by telephone. This
contact will provide information on the availability of health
insurance from that employer and essential persons to contact. Based
upon this information, Census will mail a questionnaire to the
employer. In order to assure high response rates, Census will follow-up
with a second mailing at an acceptable interval, followed by a
telephone call to collect data from those who have not responded by
mail. For large organizational respondents with high burdens, such as
State employers and very large firms, Census will, if needed, perform
personal visits and do customized collection, such as, acceptance of
data in computerized formats and use of special forms.
Estimated Annual Respondent Burden
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Estimated time Estimated total Estimated
Annual number of respondents per respondent annual burden annual cost to
(in hours) hours the Government
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33,839....................................................... .5 19,369 $7,000,000
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Estimates of annual respondent burden are based upon experience
from collection of the previous three MEPS-IC surveys.
Dated: October 1, 1999.
John M. Eisenberg,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 99-26597 Filed 10-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M
