[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 21, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71460-71461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32942]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Agency Information 
Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), formerly 
known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Agency for Healthcare Research 
and Quality (AHRQ) is planning to request the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) to allow a proposed information collection of the ``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)), AHRQ invites the public to comment on 
this proposed information collection.
    This proposed information collection was previously published in 
the Federal Register on October 13, 1999 and allowed 60 days for public 
comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice 
is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by January 20, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to the OMB Desk Office 
at the following address: Alison Eydt, Human Resources and Housing 
Branch, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB; New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235; Washington, 20503.
    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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia D. McMichael, AHRQ Reports 
Clearance Officer, (301) 594-3132.

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 AHRQ in 1997, 
seeking data pertaining to the calendar year 1996. The survey has since 
been conducted annually for calendar years 1997 and 1998.
    This survey will be conducted for AHRQ 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).
    Data to be collected from each employer will include a description 
of the business (e.g., size, industry) and description of health 
insurance plans available, plan enrollments, total plan costs and costs 
to employees.

Data Confidentiality Provisions

    The 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 that applies 
to all identifiable data collected pursuant to AHRQ's statutory 
authorities. 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 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 AHRQ 
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 solicit and gather information on the 
availability of health

[[Page 71461]]

insurance from that employer and essential persons to contact. Based 
upon this information, Census will mail a questionaire 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 total    Estimated annual
            Annual number of respondents                Estimated hours      annual burden        cost to the
                                                        per respondent           hours            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.
    Copies of these proposed collection plans and instruments can be 
obtained from the AHRQ Reports Clearance Officer (see above).

    Dated: December 15, 1999.
John M. Eisenberg,
Director.
[FR Doc. 99-32942 Filed 12-20-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M