2020-02498. Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Evaluation of Participants of an Annual SMP/SHIP National Training Conference Hosted by the Office of Healthcare Information and Counseling

AGENCY:

Administration for Community Living, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) is announcing an opportunity for the public to comment on the proposed collection of information listed above. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish a notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice.

This notice solicits comments on the Proposed New Survey, and solicits comments on the information collection requirements related to the Evaluation of participants of an Annual SMP/SHIP National Training Conference.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information must be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. (EST) or postmarked by April 7, 2020.

ADDRESSES:

Submit electronic comments on the collection of information to: [e-mail]. Submit written comments on the collection of information to Administration for Community Living, Washington, DC 20201, Attention: Marissa Whitehouse.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marissa Whitehouse, Administration for Community Living, Washington, DC 20201, [e-mail] or 202-795-7425.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the PRA Federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. “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. The PRA requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, ACL is publishing a notice of the proposed collection of information set forth in this document.

With respect to the following collection of information, ACL invites comments on our burden estimates or any other aspect of this collection of information, including:

(1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of ACL's functions, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(2) the accuracy of ACL's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used to determine burden estimates; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques when appropriate, and other forms of information technology.

The Office of Healthcare Information and Counseling (OHIC) hosts an annual national training conference for the federally funded programs that it administers. The audience for this training conference includes attendees from State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) and Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) programs, which are two nationally recognized programs that provide Medicare information and counseling to Medicare beneficiaries and help fight Medicare fraud through prevention and education. Grantee leadership is required to attend this training annually to ensure they receive critical information and technical assistance needed to help them successfully meet the requirements of their grant awards. Grantees are encouraged to bring up to three (3) people from each program. Programs operate in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

The information collected in this survey is necessary to ensure that ACL is meeting the technical assistance needs of the attendees and to capture valuable feedback to be used for future training meetings. By gathering feedback on the quality of the training and content provided, we can ensure attendee satisfaction and gather information for future planning. ACL administers a contract to develop and provide the training conference evaluation tool for ACL's approval. They also disseminate a tool to all participants following each training conference to evaluate attendee satisfaction. This training conference survey is introduced and explained during the program specific meetings and during the general session on the first day of the training conference. The survey is not mandatory, but is reinforced as a way for ACL to provide useful, engaging sessions that assist the attendees in successfully meeting the requirements of their grant awards. This evaluation tool will gather feedback on the quality of the training and content provided and the experience of the attendees to be used for future planning.

The proposed data collection tools may be found on the ACL website for review at https://www.acl.gov/​about-acl/​public-input.

Estimated Program Burden: ACL estimates the burden associated with this collection of information as follows:

Respondent/data collection activity	Number of respondents	Responses per respondent	Hours per response	Annual burden hours
Conference Evaluation	350	1	0.25	0.25
Total

Dated: January 29, 2020.

Mary Lazare,

Principal Deputy Administrator.