[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 184 (Thursday, September 23, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57035-57036]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21372]


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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: Medicaid Mental Health Services Program and Analytic 
Reports--New

    The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 
(SAMHSA) will conduct a survey of state Medicaid directors to learn 
about the relationships between state mental health authorities and 
state Medicaid agencies in each state and the District of Columbia. In 
addition, SAMHSA will ask about the administration of Medicaid mental 
health services, the development of Medicaid mental health policy, 
mental health services statistics generated by Medicaid programs, and 
the characteristics of mental health-related data maintained by 
Medicaid agencies and used by mental health and other state agencies.
    The survey will contact state Medicaid directors in all fifty 
states (and the District of Columbia) and will gather information on 
the following five survey domains: Organizational structure; Medicaid 
mental health services policy infrastructure; Medicaid mental health 
services, rates, and funding; Medicaid mental health providers; and, 
Data.
    The survey will identify and describe, at the state level, how 
Medicaid mental health policy is developed; whether Medicaid mental 
health services and providers are treated differently from other 
Medicaid services and providers, and if so, how; and the availability 
of data and reports on Medicaid mental health service use and/or 
expenditures.
    This information collection supports the New Freedom Initiative, 
one of SAMHSA's current priorities. As part of this effort, the 
President launched the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health to 
address the problems in the current mental health system. The 
Commission noted that fragmentation of responsibility for mental health 
services is a serious problem at the state level. Two of the 
Commission's 19 recommendations for the improvement of the mental 
health system were aimed at this problem. One was directed to states 
(create a comprehensive state mental health plan) and the other to the 
federal government (align relevant federal programs to improve access 
and accountability for mental health services). This survey is aimed at 
providing information that can help in carrying out these 
recommendations by further illuminating the relationships between state 
Medicaid and mental health agencies in the development and 
implementation of mental health policy.
    Telephone interviews will be conducted with state Medicaid 
directors. Each interview will last one hour. Because of the open-ended 
nature of many of the survey questions and the general reluctance of 
state Medicaid directors to complete detailed paper or electronic 
surveys, we propose to conduct all the interviews by telephone, unless 
interviewees prefer to respond to a paper or electronic version.

                                       Estimates of Annualized Hour Burden
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                                                                Responses  per     Hours per        Total hour
                    Number of  respondents                        respondent        response          burden
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51...........................................................               1                1               51
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[[Page 57036]]

    Send comments to Summer King, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, 
Room 7-1044, 1 Choke Cherry Road, Rockville, MD 20850. Written comments 
should be received by November 22, 2004.

    Dated: September 16, 2004.
Anna Marsh,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 04-21372 Filed 9-22-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P