[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 P[email protected], 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