80 FR 51647 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Request and Comment Request

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 164 (August 25, 2015)

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 164 (Tuesday, August 25, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51647-51649]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21045]



[[Page 51647]]

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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No: SSA-2015-0050]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Request and 
Comment Request

    The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes a list of 
information collection packages requiring clearance by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with Public Law 104-13, the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. This notice 
includes revisions and extensions of OMB-approved information 
collections.
    SSA is soliciting comments on the accuracy of the agency's burden 
estimate; the need for the information; its practical utility; ways to 
enhance its quality, utility, and clarity; and ways to minimize burden 
on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. Mail, email, or fax your 
comments and recommendations on the information collection(s) to the 
OMB Desk Officer and SSA Reports Clearance Officer at the following 
addresses or fax numbers. (OMB), Office of Management and Budget, Attn: 
Desk Officer for SSA, Fax: 202-395-6974, Email address: 
[email protected]. (SSA), Social Security Administration, 
OLCA, Attn: Reports Clearance Director, 3100 West High Rise, 6401 
Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21235, Fax: 410-966-2830, Email address: 
[email protected].
    Or you may submit your comments online through www.regulations.gov, 
referencing Docket ID Number [SSA-2015-0050].
    I. The information collection below is pending at SSA. SSA will 
submit it to OMB within 60 days from the date of this notice. To be 
sure we consider your comments, we must receive them no later than 
October 26, 2015. Individuals can obtain copies of the collection 
instrument by writing to the above email address.
    Response to Notice of Revised Determination--20 CFR 404.913-
404.914, 404.992(b), 416.1413-416.1414, and 416.1492(d)--0960-0347. 
When SSA determines: (1) Claimants for initial disability benefits do 
not actually have a disability, or (2) current disability recipients' 
records show their disability ceased, SSA notifies the disability 
claimants or recipients of this decision. In response to this notice, 
the affected claimants and disability recipients have the following 
recourse: (1) They may request a disability hearing to contest SSA's 
decision and (2) they may submit additional information or evidence for 
SSA to consider. Disability claimants, recipients, and their 
representatives use Form SSA-765 to accomplish these two actions. If 
respondents request the first option, SSA's Disability Hearings Unit 
uses the form to schedule a hearing; ensure an interpreter is present, 
if required; and ensure the disability recipients or claimants and 
their representatives receive a notice about the place and time of the 
hearing. If respondents choose the second option, SSA uses the form and 
other evidence to reevaluate the claimant's case and determine if the 
new information or evidence will change SSA's decision. The respondents 
are disability claimants, current disability recipients, or their 
representatives.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                 Average burden  Estimated total
           Modality of completion                Number of       Frequency of     per response    annual burden
                                                respondents        response        (minutes)         (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSA-765.....................................           1,925                1               30              963
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    II. SSA submitted the information collections below to OMB for 
clearance. Your comments regarding the information collections would be 
most useful if OMB and SSA receive them 30 days from the date of this 
publication. To be sure we consider your comments, we must receive them 
no later than September 24, 2015. Individuals can obtain copies of the 
OMB clearance packages by writing to [email protected].
    1. Physician's/Medical Officer's Statement of Patient's Capability 
to Manage Benefits--20 CFR 404.2015 and 416.615--0960-0024. SSA 
appoints a representative payee in cases where we determine 
beneficiaries are not capable of managing their own benefits. In those 
instances, we require medical evidence to determine the beneficiaries' 
capability of managing or directing their benefit payments. SSA 
collects medical evidence on Form SSA-787 to (1) determine 
beneficiaries' capability or inability to handle their own benefits, 
and (2) assist in determining the beneficiaries' need for a 
representative payee. The respondents are the beneficiary's physicians, 
or medical officers of the institution in which the beneficiary 
resides.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                 Average burden  Estimated total
           Modality of completion                Number of       Frequency of     per response    annual burden
                                                respondents        response        (minutes)         (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSA-787.....................................         120,000                1               10           20,000
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    2. State Supplementation Provisions: Agreement; Payments--20 CFR 
416.2095-416.2098, 20 CFR 416.2099--0960-0240. Section 1618 of the 
Social Security Act (Act) requires those states administering their own 
supplementary income payment program(s) to demonstrate compliance with 
the Act by passing Federal cost-of-living increases on to individuals 
who are eligible for state supplementary payments, and informing SSA of 
their compliance. In general, states report their supplementary payment 
information annually by the maintenance-of-payment levels method. 
However, SSA may ask them to report up to four times in a year by the 
total-expenditures method. Regardless of the method, the states confirm 
their compliance with the requirements, and provide any changes to 
their optional supplementary payment rates. SSA uses the information to 
determine each state's

[[Page 51648]]

compliance or noncompliance with the pass-along requirements of the Act 
to determine eligibility for Medicaid reimbursement. If a state fails 
to keep payments at the required level, it becomes ineligible for 
Medicaid reimbursement under Title XIX of the Act. Respondents are 
state agencies administering supplemental programs.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                  Average burden     Estimated
             Modality of completion                  Number of     Frequency of    per response    total annual
                                                    respondents      response        (minutes)    burden (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Expenditures..............................               7               4              60              28
Maintenance of Payment Levels...................              26               1              60              26
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................              33  ..............  ..............              54
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    3. Continuation of Supplemental Security Income Payments for the 
Temporarily Institutionalized--Certification of Period and Need to 
Maintain Home--20 CFR 416.212(b)(1)--0960-0516. When SSI recipients (1) 
enter a public institution or (2) enter a private medical treatment 
facility with Medicaid paying more than 50 percent of expenses, SSA 
must reduce recipients' SSI payments to a nominal sum. However, if this 
institutionalization is temporary (defined as a maximum of three 
months), SSA may waive the reduction. Before SSA can waive the SSI 
payment reduction, the agency must receive the following documentation: 
(1) A physician's certification stating the SSI recipient will only be 
institutionalized for a maximum of three months, and (2) certification 
from the recipient, the recipient's family, or friends, confirming the 
recipient needs SSI payments to maintain the living arrangements to 
which the individual will return post-institutionalization. To obtain 
this information, SSA employees contact the recipient (or a 
knowledgeable source) to obtain the required physician's certification 
and the statement of need. SSA does not require any specific format for 
these items, so long as we obtain the necessary attestations. The 
respondents are SSI recipients, their family or friends, as well as 
physicians or hospital staff members who treat the SSI recipient.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                 Average burden  Estimated total
           Modality of completion                Number of       Frequency of     per response    annual burden
                                                respondents        response        (minutes)         (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Physician's Certifications and Statements             60,000                1                5            5,000
 from Other Respondents.....................
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    4. Request for Deceased Individual's Social Security Record--20 CFR 
402.130--0960-0665. When a member of the public requests an 
individual's Social Security record, SSA needs the name and address of 
the requestor as well as a description of the requested record to 
process the request. SSA uses the information the respondent provides 
on Form SSA-711, or via an Internet request through SSA's electronic 
Freedom of Information Act (eFOIA) Web site, to (1) verify the wage 
earner is deceased and (2) access the correct Social Security record. 
Respondents are members of the public requesting deceased individuals' 
Social Security records.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                  Average burden     Estimated
             Modality of completion                  Number of     Frequency of    per response    total annual
                                                    respondents      response        (minutes)    burden (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet Request through eFOIA..................          49,800               1               7           5,810
SSA-711 (paper).................................             200               1               7              23
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................          50,000  ..............  ..............           5,833
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    Cost Burden *:
    In addition, SSA charges fees to the respondent for this 
information. The following charts shows the fees per transaction based 
on the information the respondent provides on the SSA-711 (or in 
eFOIA):

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                                                                                                     Cost per
            Modality of completion                   Information provided (or not provided)         transaction
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSA-711 (paper)...............................  SSN of decedent is not provided.................             $29
SSA-711 (paper)...............................  SSN of decedent is provided.....................              27
eFOIA (Internet)..............................  SSN of decedent is not provided.................              18
eFOIA (Internet)..............................  SSN of decedent is provided.....................              18
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[[Page 51649]]

    * As these costs are dependent on the respondent's provided 
information, we charge them on an as needed basis, and cannot provide a 
total annual estimate of the cost burden. We do not know whether the 
respondent provided the decedent's SSN until we manually review and 
process each SSA-711.
    5. Electronic Health Records Partnering Program Evaluation Form--20 
CFR 404.1614, 416.1014, 24 CFR 495.300-495.370--0960-0798. The Health 
Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act 
promotes the adoption and meaningful use of health information 
technology (IT), particularly in the context of working with government 
agencies. Similarly, section 3004 of the Public Health Service Act 
requires health care providers or health insurance issuers with 
government contracts to implement, acquire, or upgrade their health IT 
systems and products to meet adopted standards and implementation 
specifications. To support expansion of SSA's health IT initiative as 
defined under HITECH, SSA developed Form SSA-680, the Health IT Partner 
Program Assessment--participating Facilities and Available Content 
Form. The SSA-680 allows healthcare providers to provide the 
information SSA needs to determine their ability to exchange health 
information with us electronically. We evaluate potential partners 
(i.e., healthcare providers and organizations) on (1) the accessibility 
of health information they possess, and (2) the content value of their 
electronic health records' systems for our disability adjudication 
processes. SSA reviews the completeness of organizations' SSA-680 
responses as one part of our careful analysis of their readiness to 
enter into a health IT partnership with us. The respondents are 
healthcare providers and organizations exchanging information with the 
agency.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                 Average burden  Estimated total
           Modality of completion                Number of       Frequency of     per response    annual burden
                                                respondents        response        (minutes)         (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSA-680.....................................              30                1                5              150
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    Dated: August 20, 2015.
Naomi R. Sipple,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2015-21045 Filed 8-24-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P