Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed New Collection; Comment Request

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 242 (Friday, December 17, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70712-70713]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32717]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration on Aging


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed New 
Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Administration on Aging, HHS.
    The Administration on Aging (AoA), Department of Health and Human 
Services, proposes to submit to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) the following proposal for the collection of information in 
compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (Pub. L. 96-511):
    Title of Information Collection: Operation Restore Trust Grantee 
Reports.
    Type of Request: New.
    Use: To collect, on a one-time basis, data and information 
concerning best practices for recruiting, training, and maintaining 
staff and volunteers to build community coalitions, promote awareness 
and stimulate action designed to combat and prevent waste, fraud and 
abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. As part of a nation-wide 
partnership of public and private agencies and organizations, AoA funds 
grants through two mechanisms, the Health Insurance Portability and 
Accountability Act (HIPAA) (Pub. L. 104-191) and the Health Care Anti-
Fraud Waste and Abuse Community Volunteer Program authorized in the 
Omnibus Consolidated Appropriation Act of 1997.
    These two sets of projects provide education, training, and other 
services to build community coalitions, promote awareness, and 
stimulate action on the part of staff, volunteers, and beneficiaries to 
identify and report

[[Page 70713]]

potential cases of inappropriate billing and other improper activity in 
the nation's publicly financed health insurance programs.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collections of 
information are necessary for the performance of the functions of the 
agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; 
(b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed 
collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.
    Data will be from all of the AoA-funded sites receiving funding in 
Fiscal Year 1999 and later years. The analysis of the data will help to 
determine best practices for reducing health care waste, fraud, and 
abuse. The types of reporting forms, the number of respondents to each 
form and the hourly and cost burdens are detailed in the following 
table.

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                                     Number of      Responses/        Hours/       Annual burden   Annual burden
                                      clients         client         response          hours           cost
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Staff Interview.................              30               1               1              30            $750
Trainee Interview...............             100               1             0.5              50           $1500
    Total.......................             130  ..............  ..............              80           $2250
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    Frequency: One time.
    Additional Information or Comments: The AoA announced reporting 
specifications for the proposed format in the Federal Register on 
February 23, 1999. There were no responses to the 60-day notice.
    To request more information concerning the proposed projects, or to 
obtain a copy of the information collection plans, call Dr. Kenton 
Williams at (202) 619-3951. Written comments and recommendations 
regarding the proposed information collection requirements should be 
sent within 30 days of the publication of this notice to the following 
address: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: 
Allison Eydt, OMB Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, 
Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: December 2, 1999.
Jeanette C. Takamura,
Assistant Secretary for Aging.
[FR Doc. 99-32717 Filed 12-16-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4154-01-U