[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 142 (Friday, July 24, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39880-39881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19730]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Care Financing Administration
[Document Identifier: HCFA-250,254]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Health Care Financing
Administration (HCFA), Department of Health and Human Services, is
publishing the following summary of proposed collections for public
comment. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding the
burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information,
including any of the following subjects: (1) the necessity and utility
of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of
the agency's functions; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and (4) the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology to minimize the information
collection burden.
Type of Information Collection Request: Extension of a currently
approved collection; Title of Information Collection: Medicare
Secondary Payer Information Collection and Supporting Regulations 42
CFR 489.20; Form No.: HCFA-250,254 OMB #0938-0214; Use: This
questionnaire will collect information from beneficiaries on health
insurance coverage that is primary to Medicare. This information is
necessary in order for HCFA to identify those Medicare beneficiaries
who have group health insurance that would pay before Medicare,
resulting in savings to the Medicare Trust Fund. Medicare Secondary
Payer (MSP) is essentially the same concept known in the private
insurance industry as coordination of benefits, and refers to those
situations where Medicare does not have primary responsibility for
paying the medical expenses of a Medicare beneficiary. HCFA contracts
with health insuring organizations, herein referred to as
intermediaries and carriers, to process Medicare claims. HCFA charges
its Medicare intermediaries and carriers with various tasks to detect
MSP cases; develops and disseminates tools to enable them to better
perform their tasks; and monitors their performance in achievement of
their assigned MSP functions. Because intermediaries and carriers are
also marketing health insurance products that may have liability when
Medicare is secondary, the MSP provisions create the potential for
conflict of interest. Recognizing this inherent conflict, HCFA has
taken steps to ensure that its intermediaries and carriers process
claims in accordance with the MSP provisions, regardless of what other
insurer is primary. Frequency: One time only; Affected Public:
Individuals or Households; Number of Respondents: 14,204,000; Total
Annual Responses: 14,204,000; Total Annual Hours: 773,240.
To obtain copies of the supporting statement for the proposed
paperwork collections referenced above, E-mail your request, including
your address and phone number, to Paperwork@hcfa.gov, or call the
Reports Clearance Office on (410) 786-1326. Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed information collections must be mailed
[[Page 39881]]
within 60 days of this notice directly to the HCFA Paperwork Clearance
Officer designated at the following address: HCFA, Office of
Information Services, Security and Standards Group, Division of HCFA
Enterprise Standards, Attention: John Rudolph, Room C2-26-17, 7500
Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244-1850.
Dated: July 15, 1998.
John P. Burke III,
HCFA Reports Clearance Officer, Division of HCFA Enterprise Standards,
Security and Standards Group, Health Care Financing Administration.
[FR Doc. 98-19730 Filed 7-23-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-03-P
