[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 197 (Wednesday, October 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55480-55481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-26597]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Health Care Policy and Research


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Health 
Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) to request the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) to allow the proposed information collection project: 
1999-2001 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey--Insurance Component (MEPS-
IC). In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 
104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), AHCPR invites the public to comment 
on this proposed information collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by December 13, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: Cynthia McMichael, 
Reports Clearance Officer, AHCPR, 2101 East Jefferson Street, Suite 
500, Rockville, MD 20852-4908.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and included in the request for OMB approval of the proposed 
information collection. All comments will become a matter of public 
record.
    In accordance with the above cited legislation, comments on the 
AHCPR information collection proposal are requested with regard to any 
of the following: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of functions of the Agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the 
accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden (including hours and 
costs) of the proposed collection 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.
    Copies of the proposed collection plans, data collection 
instruments, and specific details on the estimated burden can be 
obtained from the AHCPR Reports Clearance Officer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia McMichael, AHCPR Reports 
Clearance Officer, (301) 594-6659.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project

1999-2001 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey--Insurance Component (MEPS-
IC).

    The MEPS-IC, an annual survey of the characteristics of employer-
sponsored health insurance, was first conducted by AHCPR in 1997, 
seeking data pertaining to the calendar year 1996. The survey has since 
been conducted annually for calendar years 1997 and 1998. AHCPR 
proposes to continue this annual survey of establishments for calendar 
years 1999 through 2001. The survey data for calendar year 1999 will be 
collected in 2000. Likewise, calendar year 2000 data will be collected 
in 2001 and calendar year 2001 data in 2002. The survey will collect 
information from both public and private employers.
    This survey will be conducted for AHCPR by the Bureau of the Census 
using a sample comprised of:
    1. Employers selected from Census Bureau lists of private sector 
employers and government employers (known as the List Sample); and
    2. Employers identified by respondents to the MEPS-Household 
Component (MEPS-HC) for the same calendar year (known as the Household 
Sample). The MEPS-HC is an annual household survey designed to collect 
information concerning health care expenditures and related data for 
individuals.
    Data to be collected from each employer will include a description 
of the business (e.g., size, industry) and descriptions of health 
insurance plans available, plan enrollments, total plan costs and costs 
to employees.

Data Confidentiality Provisions

    MEPS-IC List Sample data confidentiality is protected under section 
9 of Title 13, United States Code (the U.S. Census Bureau statute). 
MEPS-IC Household Sample data confidentiality is protected under 
sections 308(d) and 903(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
242m and 42 U.S.C. 299a-1). Section 308(d), the confidentiality statute 
of the National Center for Health Statistics, is applicable because the 
MEPS-HC sample is derived from respondents of an earlier NCHS survey. 
Section 903(c) is the confidentiality statute of AHCPR. All data 
products listed below must fully comply with the data confidentiality 
statute under which the raw data was collected.

Data Products

    Data will be produced in three forms: (1) Files derived from the 
Household

[[Page 55481]]

Sample, which can be linked back to other information from household 
respondents in the MEPS-HC; (2) files containing employer information 
from the List Sample (available for use by researchers at the Census 
Bureau's Research Data Centers); and (3) a large compendium of tables 
of estimates based on the List Sample (available on the AHCPR website). 
These tables will contain descriptive statistics, such as, numbers of 
establishments offering health insurance, average premiums, average 
contributions, total enrollments, numbers of self insured 
establishments and other related statistics for a large number of 
population subsets defined by firm size, state, industry and 
establishment characteristics, such as, age, profit/nonprofit status 
and union/nonunion.
    The data are intended to be used for purposes such as:
     Generating national and State estimates of employer health 
care offerings;
     Producing estimates to support the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis within the Department of Commerce and the Health Care 
Financing Administration in their respective calculations of health 
care expenditures for the Gross Domestic Product and National Health 
Accounts (annual totals for various categories of health care 
expenditures for the United States);
     Producing national and State estimates of spending on 
employer-sponsored health insurance to study the results of national 
and State health care policies;
     Supplying data for modeling the demand for health 
insurance; and
     Providing data on health plan choices, costs, and benefits 
that can be linked back to households' use of health care resources as 
were reported in the MEPS-HC survey for studies of the consumer health 
care selection process.
    These data will provide the basis for researchers to address 
important questions for the benefit of employers and policymakers 
alike.

Method of Collection

    The data will be collected using a combination of modes. the Census 
Bureau's first contact with employers will be made by telephone. This 
contact will provide information on the availability of health 
insurance from that employer and essential persons to contact. Based 
upon this information, Census will mail a questionnaire to the 
employer. In order to assure high response rates, Census will follow-up 
with a second mailing at an acceptable interval, followed by a 
telephone call to collect data from those who have not responded by 
mail. For large organizational respondents with high burdens, such as 
State employers and very large firms, Census will, if needed, perform 
personal visits and do customized collection, such as, acceptance of 
data in computerized formats and use of special forms.

                                       Estimated Annual Respondent Burden
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                                                                Estimated time  Estimated total     Estimated
                 Annual number of respondents                   per respondent   annual burden    annual cost to
                                                                  (in hours)         hours        the Government
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33,839.......................................................              .5           19,369       $7,000,000
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    Estimates of annual respondent burden are based upon experience 
from collection of the previous three MEPS-IC surveys.

    Dated: October 1, 1999.
John M. Eisenberg,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 99-26597 Filed 10-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M