[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 10 (Friday, January 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2418-2419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-909]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 concerning opportunity for public comment on proposed
collections of information, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration will publish periodic summaries of proposed
projects. To request more information on the proposed projects or to
obtain a copy of the information collection plans, call the SAMHSA
Reports Clearance Officer on (301) 443-7978.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collections of
information are necessary for the proper 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 through the use of automated collection techniques or other
forms of information technology.
Proposed Project: Evaluation of the Effects of the Vermont Parity
Act--New-- In support of its mission to support activities related to
improving mental health and substance abuse treatment and prevention
through demonstration projects, evaluations and service system
assessments, SAMHSA is taking advantage of the implementation of the
Vermont Parity Act on January 1, 1998. The Vermont Parity Act provides
SAMHSA with an important opportunity to study the health insurance
coverage impacts of the nation's most comprehensive parity law and to
provide useful data to state and federal policy makers, employers,
health care providers, advocates, and consumers.
SAMHSA will conduct a telephone survey of private employers in
Vermont to assess their responses to the state law. The employer survey
will gather information on the effects of the Vermont parity lay on
employer-sponsored health insurance coverage. As a study of the most
comprehensive
[[Page 2419]]
state parity law in the nation, this survey will provide SAMHSA its
first opportunity to understand: (1) Employer knowledge of and
satisfaction with parity; (2) estimated effects of parity on employer
health care costs; (3) effects of parity on employer health insurance
purchasing decisions, such as decisions to self-insure, drop coverage,
change insurance carriers, shift a higher share of costs to employees,
or carve-out benefits and/or shift to managed care; (4) other changes
brought about by parity, such as establishment of employee assistance
plans or wellness programs; and (5) suggestions for improving the
parity law in the future.
Data will be collected between May and September 2000, a period
when employers typically re-evaluate their health insurance coverage
decisions for the upcoming fiscal year. Upon completion of the data
collection, descriptive and multivariate analyses of employer responses
to and satisfaction with parity will be conducted. Responses will be
analyzed by employer characteristics such as firm size, location, and
type of industry. SAMHSA will use the survey results and survey data to
advise governmental bodies such as the National Advisory Mental Health
Council (NAMHC), which was charged by the Senate Appropriations
Committee in 1996 to provide periodic reports on parity coverage in
mental health services ``as more data throughout the country become
available''.
The table below shows the total burden for this one-year study.
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Burden/
Type of interview Number of Responses/ response Total burden
respondents Respondent (hrs.) hours
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Eligible businesses (screened and interviewed) 600 1 .33 200
\1\............................................
Ineligible businesses (screened only) \2\....... 188 1 .17 32
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Total....................................... 788 .............. .............. 232
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\1\ Eligible businesses consist of businesses offering insurance to their employees at the time of the survey
and newly uninsured businesses that stopped offering insurance to their employees after January 1, 1998 when
the parity law went into effect.
\2\ Ineligible businesses consist of businesses that have not offered insurance at any time since January 1,
1998.
Send comments to Nancy Pearce, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, Room
16-105, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.
Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.
Dated: January 6, 2000.
Richard Kopanda,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 00-909 Filed 1-13-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P