[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 85 (Thursday, May 2, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22091-22092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-10840]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

    In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public 
comment on proposed data collection projects (section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 
Title 44, United States Code, as amended by the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995, Pub. L. 104-13), the Health Resources and Services 
Administration (HRSA) publishes periodic summaries of proposed projects 
being developed for submission to OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995. To request more information on the proposed project or to 
obtain a copy of the data collection plans and draft instruments, call 
the HRSA Reports Clearance Officer at (301) 443-1129.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is 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: Private Health Insurance Coverage of 
Immunosuppressive Drugs Survey--New

    Public Law 106-310, Section 2101(b) of Title XXI of the Children's 
Health Act of 2000, states that the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall provide for a study to determine the costs of 
immunosuppressive drugs provided to children pursuant to organ 
transplants and to determine the extent to which health plans and 
health insurance cover such costs.
    The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has 
determined the extent of government insurance coverage for 
immunosuppressive drugs given to children pursuant to organ 
transplantation. However, HRSA still does not know the extent of 
private health insurance coverage for immunosuppressive drugs. Analysis 
of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) database 
revealed that approximately 45% of pediatric organ transplant 
recipients list their primary insurer as being private health 
insurance--this category being the largest insurer of pediatric organ 
transplant recipients. Little is known about co-payments, limitation on 
drug usage, etc., in this category of patients.
    In order to fulfill the requirements of Section 2101(b), the 
Division of Transplantation in the Office of Special Programs, HRSA, 
contracted with the EMMES Corporation to study the costs of 
immunosuppressive drugs and to conduct a survey to send to 
approximately 600 families of post-transplant liver and kidney patients 
who list private health insurance as their primary provider at the time 
of transplantation. Data collected and analyzed will be reported to 
Congress. The report will contain information about the extent to which 
private health insurance covers the cost of immunosuppressive drugs 
given pursuant to organ transplants and provide recommendations from 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services about the findings. Once 
information has been collected and the report to Congress submitted, 
the information will be incorporated into private databases maintained 
by the EMMES Corporation which are closely protected and not available 
to the public. Analytical requests can be made on the data, but 
requests are subject to an advisory board and the release in any type 
of personally-identifiable data or standard analytical file will not be 
available to the public. The Federal Government will not have access to 
any of the personally-identifiable data. All these measures will assure 
patient privacy.

                                       Estimates of Annualized Hour Burden
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                                                     Number of     Responses per     Hours per      Total hour
                   Respondents                      respondents     respondents      response         burden
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Guardians patients..............................             600               1             .75          450
Transplant Centers..............................             143               1            2.5           357.50
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................             743                                          807.50
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[[Page 22092]]

    Send comments to Susan G. Queen, Ph.D., HRSA Reports Clearance 
Officer, Room 11-05, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, 
MD 20857. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this 
notice.

    Dated: April 25, 2002.
Stephen R. Smith,
Acting Associate Administrator for Management and Program Support.
[FR Doc. 02-10840 Filed 5-1-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P