[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 14 (Monday, January 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3377-3378]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-1217]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

    Periodically, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration (SAMHSA) will publish a summary of information 
collection requests under OMB review, in compliance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these 
documents, call the SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer on (240) 276-1243.

Survey of Medicaid Directors Regarding Medicaid Mental Health Services 
and Policy--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: Organization 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
     Number of respondents           per        Hours per    Total hour
                                 respondent     response       burden
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51............................            1             1            51
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    Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed 
information collection should be sent by February 23, 2005, to: SAMHSA 
Desk Officer, Human Resources and Housing Branch, Office of Management 
and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 
20503; due to potential

[[Page 3378]]

delays in OMB's receipt and processing of mail sent through the U.S. 
Postal Service, respondents are encouraged to submit comments by fax 
to: (202) 395-6974.

    Dated: January 13, 2005.
Anna Marsh,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 05-1217 Filed 1-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-M