[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 21, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71460-71461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32942]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Agency Information
Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request
AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), formerly
known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality (AHRQ) is planning to request the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) to allow a proposed information collection of the ``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)), AHRQ invites the public to comment on
this proposed information collection.
This proposed information collection was previously published in
the Federal Register on October 13, 1999 and allowed 60 days for public
comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice
is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by January 20, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to the OMB Desk Office
at the following address: Alison Eydt, Human Resources and Housing
Branch, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB; New
Executive Office Building, Room 10235; Washington, 20503.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia D. McMichael, AHRQ Reports
Clearance Officer, (301) 594-3132.
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 AHRQ in 1997,
seeking data pertaining to the calendar year 1996. The survey has since
been conducted annually for calendar years 1997 and 1998.
This survey will be conducted for AHRQ 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).
Data to be collected from each employer will include a description
of the business (e.g., size, industry) and description of health
insurance plans available, plan enrollments, total plan costs and costs
to employees.
Data Confidentiality Provisions
The 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 that applies
to all identifiable data collected pursuant to AHRQ's statutory
authorities. 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 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 AHRQ
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 solicit and gather information on the
availability of health
[[Page 71461]]
insurance from that employer and essential persons to contact. Based
upon this information, Census will mail a questionaire 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 total Estimated annual
Annual number of respondents Estimated hours annual burden cost to the
per respondent hours 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.
Copies of these proposed collection plans and instruments can be
obtained from the AHRQ Reports Clearance Officer (see above).
Dated: December 15, 1999.
John M. Eisenberg,
Director.
[FR Doc. 99-32942 Filed 12-20-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M
