[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 2, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61887-61889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24953]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Program Procedure for Augmenting 
Petitions and Reminder of Termination Date of Fund

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to announce the procedure for 
the augmentation of petitions filed with the Ricky Ray Hemophilia 
Relief Fund Program, postmarked by the November 13, 2001, statutory 
deadline, for which an initial payment decision has been made; and to 
remind the public of the November 12, 2003, termination date of the 
Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund.

DATES: The termination date of the Ricky Ray Trust Fund is November 12, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: All documentation to augment eligible petitions must be 
submitted to the Ricky Ray Program, Bureau of Health Professions, 
Health Resources and Services Administration, Room 4-81, Parklawn 
Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul T. Clark, Director, Ricky Ray 
Program, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services 
Administration, (301) 443-2330.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The order of the review and payment decision 
of

[[Page 61888]]

any specific petition filed with the Ricky Ray Program was based on the 
postmark date of the petition. The facts related to the petition may 
have changed over time subsequent to the payment decision. This 
document addresses how the Ricky Ray Program will handle new 
information that becomes available before the Ricky Ray Trust Fund 
terminates on November 12, 2003, where the new information may change 
the payment decision of a petition that has been approved for a payment 
of less than $100,000, or a disapproved petition.
    This document also reminds the public of the termination date of 
the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund, November 12, 2003. This date is 
governed by section 101(d) of the Act, which states that the Fund shall 
terminate upon the expiration of the 5-year period beginning on the 
date of enactment of the Act on November 12, 1998. The unobligated 
funds remaining at the end of this period shall be deposited in the 
miscellaneous receipts account in the Treasury of the United States.

Background

    The Ricky Ray Program implements the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief 
Fund Act of 1998 (the Act), Pub. Law 105-369. The Act provides for 
compassionate payments to individuals with blood-clotting disorders, 
such as hemophilia, who were treated with antihemophilic factor between 
July 1, 1982 and December 31, 1987, and contracted human 
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as well as to certain persons who 
contracted HIV from these individuals. In the event individuals 
eligible for payment are deceased, the Act also provides for payments 
to certain survivors of these individuals.
    Petition payment determinations under the Act are based upon the 
documents that were included in a petition as of the date the petition 
was reviewed. As a result, some petitions were approved for a payment 
of less than $100,000 or were disapproved because the documentation 
submitted with the petition did not support a payment of $100,000.
    The Act stipulates that petitions are to be reviewed in the order 
received. To comply with this legislative mandate, the Ricky Ray 
Program developed and implemented its petition review process whereby 
petitions would be randomly numbered by the postmark date and reviewed 
in accordance with the randomly assigned number. The Program also 
decided to make payments as soon as possible after all July 31, 2000, 
postmarked petitions were in-house, rather than waiting until after the 
filing deadline date, November 13, 2001, to begin making payments. 
These decisions addressed a series of Program-related factors such as: 
the mortality of the target population, the initial amount of $75 
million appropriated for the Program in fiscal year 2000, and the 
uncertainty of future appropriations.
    The Act and its regulations recognize that petitions may be 
affected by circumstances beyond petitioners' control that could impact 
a payment decision. Section 130.24 (a) of the Ricky Ray Program's Final 
Rule with Amendments (66 FR 58667) states that where a petition raises 
an eligibility or payment question, ``the Secretary may require the 
petitioner to provide other documentation, as the Secretary deems 
appropriate, to resolve issues of eligibility, or of the procedure for 
payment, raised by a petition.'' This regulatory provision allows a 
petitioner to augment a petition with new documents or additional 
information from any source provided that the petition was postmarked 
on or before November 13, 2001. The Act and its regulations also 
provide for a two-year period between the final postmark date and the 
date when the Program's Trust Fund terminates. This authority permits 
the Secretary to review the most recent documentation available to 
resolve any eligibility or payment issue relating to an approval or 
disapproval decision on a petition.
    The Ricky Ray Program, by statute, is authorized to pay $100,000 on 
behalf of an eligible individual with HIV. In the case of multiple 
survivors, i.e., children or parents, the $100,000 payment must be 
divided in equal shares among that class of survivors. There are 
petitioner survivors whose petitions only included documentation that 
supported their portion of the payment of $100,000.

Criteria for Augmentation

    The following criteria must be met in order for a petition to be 
eligible for augmentation.
    1. Only a petition postmarked by November 13, 2001, and, therefore, 
included in the Ricky Ray Program system of records, may be augmented.
    The Ricky Ray Program regulations stipulate that petitions 
submitted to the Program must be postmarked between July 31, 2000, and 
November 13, 2001. Petitions postmarked during this period of time were 
given a petition number and recorded in the Program's system of 
records.
    2. Only a petitioner, a petitioner's personal representative, or a 
disinterested third party, such as a court, a hospital, or a state 
department of vital statistics, may augment a petition.
    A petitioner, a petitioner's personal representative, or a 
disinterested third party may augment a petition with documentation 
that could affect the Program's petition payment decision. The 
documentation or information that augments the petition must be 
received by the Program in sufficient time before November 12, 2003, to 
allow for review and processing before the Fund terminates.
    In implementing this procedure with regard to payment decisions for 
survivors of eligible individuals, the Ricky Ray Program will make 
payments in accordance with section 103(c)(2)(A) of the Act, which 
establishes a hierarchy of survivors, as follows:
    1. Surviving spouse.
    2. Child(ren) in equal shares if there is no surviving spouse.
    3. Parent(s) in equal shares if there are no surviving spouse or 
surviving children.

Documentation Required for Augmentation

    The documentation or information that the Program may consider when 
a petitioner, petitioner's personal representative, or the 
disinterested third party augments a petition includes, but is not 
limited to:
    1. A court order determining that the other surviving parent's 
parental rights have been terminated.
    2. A death certificate of the other eligible survivor(s).
    3. Other evidence establishing eligibility for the full payment, 
such as: (a) An order from a court of competent jurisdiction 
documenting that the survivor is the sole survivor of the eligible 
individual; (b) documentation that supports the existence of a 
relationship between a survivor and an eligible individual, which may, 
in some circumstances, include Social Security, Department of Veterans 
Affairs or Department of Defense benefits to survivors; (c) 
documentation that the medical requirements necessary for eligibility 
have been met.
    Any documentation submitted by a petitioner, a petitioner's 
personal representative, or a disinterested third party to augment a 
petition must be received by the Ricky Ray Program in sufficient time 
to allow for processing and payment prior to the Trust Fund's 
termination date of November 12, 2003. No payments will be made after 
that date.
    Examples of how this augmentation procedure will be implemented are 
available on the Ricky Ray Program

[[Page 61889]]

website at: http://www.hrsa.gov/bhpr/rickyray.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements for the Ricky Ray Homphilia 
Relief Fund (42 CFR part 130) have been approved under OMB No. 0915-
0244.

    Dated: September 24, 2002.
Elizabeth M. Duke,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-24953 Filed 10-1-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P