2011-4388. Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas; Notice of Meeting

AGENCY:

Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Negotiated Rulemaking Committee meeting.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), notice is hereby given of the following meeting of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas.

DATES:

Meetings will be held on March 8, 2011, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; March 9, 2011, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and March 10, 2011, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

ADDRESSES:

Meetings will be held at the Radisson Hotel Reagan National Airport, 2020 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia 22202, [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For more information, please contact Nicole Patterson, Office of Shortage Designation, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, Room 9A-18, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, Telephone [phone], E-mail: [e-mail] or visit http://www.hrsa.gov/​advisorycommittees/​shortage/​.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Status: The meeting will be open to the public.

Purpose: The purpose of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas (Committee) is to establish criteria and a comprehensive methodology for Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas, using a Negotiated Rulemaking (NR) process. It is hoped that use of the NR process will yield consensus among technical experts and stakeholders on a new rule for designation of medically underserved populations and primary care health professions shortage areas, which would be published as an Interim Final Rule in accordance with Section 5602 the Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148.

Agenda: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 8; Wednesday, March 9; and Thursday, March 10. It will include a discussion of various components of a possible methodology for identifying areas of shortage and underservice, based on the recommendations of the Committee in the previous meeting. The Thursday meeting will also include development of the agenda for the next meeting. Members of the public will have the opportunity to provide comments during the meeting on Thursday afternoon, March 10.

Requests from the public to make oral comments or to provide written comments to the Committee should be sent to Nicole Patterson at the contact address above at least 10 days prior to the first day of the meeting, Wednesday, March 8. The meeting will be open to the public as indicated above, with attendance limited to space available. Individuals who plan to attend and need special assistance, such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, should notify the contact person listed above at least 10 days prior to the meeting.

The Committee is working to meet the requirement in the Affordable Care Act under tight timeframes. As work has progressed, it has been determined that more time will be needed to complete the assignment due to its complexity, resulting in the Committee's decision to extend planned meetings. As a result, the logistical challenges encountered with extending planned meetings and scheduling additional meetings hindered an earlier publishing of the meeting notice.

Dated: February 23, 2011.

Reva Harris,

Acting Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.