[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 56 (Thursday, March 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15095-15097]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-5808]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration on Aging


Notice; Availability of Funding Opportunity Announcement

    Funding Opportunity Title/Program Name: Senior Medicare Patrol 
Projects.
    Announcement Type: Initial.
    Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2005-AoA-Initial-SM.
    Statutory Authority: The Older Americans Act, Public Law 106-501.
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 93.048, Title 
IV and Title II, Discretionary Projects, and the Health Insurance 
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-191).
    Dates: The deadline date for the submission of applications is May 
13, 2005.

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    This announcement seeks proposals for the Senior Medicare Patrol 
(SMP) Projects which will serve as model projects that demonstrate 
effective ways of utilizing retired persons as volunteer expert 
resources and educators in community efforts to prevent and identify 
health care, error, fraud and abuse in the Medicare/Medicaid programs.
    A detailed description of the funding opportunity and application 
materials may be obtained at http://www.aoa.gov/doingbus/fundopp/fundopp.asp or http://www.grants.gov.

Award Information

1. Funding Instrument Type

    Cooperative Agreement. The award is a cooperative agreement because 
of the substantial involvement of the Administration on Aging in the 
development and execution of the activities of the projects. The 
cooperative agreements will describe training, technical assistance and 
support to be provided the projects funded under this announcement.
    The SMP project will form a consortium of community-based agencies 
to assist in planning and implementing the project, while working in 
close partnership with an interdisciplinary team of Federal, State, and 
local resources, including

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representatives from the Administration on Aging, the Office of 
Inspector General (OIG), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' 
Program Safeguard Contractors or Medication Fraud Information 
Specialists (MFIS), and State Quality Improvement Organizations.
    The SMP project will recruit, train, and place retired individuals 
in a variety of communities and settings to provide public education 
and outreach to older persons and their families, including an emphasis 
on reaching vulnerable, isolated, and limited English-speaking 
beneficiaries.
    The Administration on Aging will define project performance 
criteria and expectations, and will monitor, evaluate and support the 
projects' efforts in achieving performance goals. The project will 
participate in a national assessment of the program utilizing the 
performance measurement instrument developed by the HHS Office of 
Inspector General (OIG), including reporting outputs and out comes to 
the OIG semiannually.
    The SMP project and Administration on Aging will work cooperatively 
to clarify the issues to be addressed by the project and develop the 
work plan for each year of the project. Within 45 days of the award and 
45 days of each continuation award, the project will agree upon and 
adhere to a work plan that details expectations for major activities, 
products, and reports during the current budget period. The work plan 
will include timelines, staff assignments, work locations, and areas 
that require Administration on Aging consultation, review, and/or prior 
approval. Either the Administration on Aging or the project can propose 
a revision of the final work plan at any time. Any changes in the final 
work plan will require agreement of both parties.
    The Administration on Aging will assist the SMP project leadership 
in understanding the policy concerns and/or priorities of the Assistant 
Secretary for Aging and the Department of Health and Human Services by 
conducting periodic briefings and by carrying out ongoing 
consultations.
    The Administration on Aging has established the National Consumer 
Protection Technical Resource Center to enhance the effectiveness of 
the Senior Medicare Patrol projects' efforts to meet AoA and SMP 
program strategic objectives, by providing informational resources, 
technical assistance and support to the projects.
    The Administration on Aging will also share information with the 
project about other Federally sponsored projects and activities carried 
out under this Agreement.
    The Administration on Aging will be provided a period of three 
weeks, prior to their release and/or publication, to review and comment 
upon all materials, reports, documents, etc. produced by the project 
with funds provided through this award. After the three weeks review 
and comment period, the project is free to make such materials public, 
displaying the Administration on Aging disclaimer.

2. Anticipated Total Priority Area Funding per Budget Period

    Option 1--AoA intends to make available, under this program 
announcement, grant awards for up to thirty-two (32) cooperative 
agreements at a federal share of between $125,000 and $180,000 per year 
for a project period of three (3) years.
    Option 2--AoA intends to fund up to two 1-year capacity-building 
grants at a federal share of between $40,000 and $75,000 for a period 
of one year.

II. Eligibility Criteria and Other Requirements

1. Eligible Applicants

    Option 1--Eligibility for grant awards is limited to public state 
and local agencies, federally recognized tribes, or nonprofit agencies, 
organizations, and institutions, including faith-based organizations, 
in the following 28 States and jurisdictions: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, 
Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, 
Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto 
Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.
    Option 2--Eligible entities from U.S. territories are extended the 
opportunity to apply for one-year capacity-building grants. Eligibility 
is limited to public State and local agencies, federally recognized 
tribes, or nonprofit agencies, organizations, and institutions, 
including faith-based organizations from within these territories.
    The competition is limited to the 28 states and jurisdictions 
specified under Option 1, as well as the U.S. territories (per Option 
2). Competition under Option 1 is limited to those specified states and 
jurisdictions because the current three-year grant period for Senior 
Medicare Patrol projects within these areas will end on June 30, 2005. 
The competition is limited to U.S. territories under Option 2 in order 
to offer an opportunity to expand the program to the territories on a 
first-time basis. The AoA is currently funding SMP projects in the 
remaining 24 states not specified under Options 1 and 2. In order to 
ensure the program reaches Medicare beneficiaries in the maximum number 
of states, given available funding, applicants from those states 
currently served by SMP projects are ineligible to apply.
    Grantees under both Option 1 and Option 2 will carry out 
cooperative agreement awards to train retired persons to serve in their 
communities as volunteer expert resources and educators in preventing 
and identifying health care error, fraud, and abuse.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

    Grantees are required to provide at least 25 percent of the total 
program costs from non-federal cash or in-kind resources in order to be 
considered for the award. Applicants from the U.S. territories are 
exempt from the matching requirement.

3. DUNS Number

    All grant applicants must obtain a D-U-N-S number from Dun and 
Bradstreet. It is a nine-digit identification number, which provides 
unique identifiers of single business entities. The D-U-N-S number is 
free and easy to obtain from http://www.dnb.com/US/duns_update/.

4. Intergovernmental Review

    Executive Order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal 
Programs, is not applicable to these grant applications.

III. Application and Submission Information

1. Address To Request Application Package

    Application kits are available by writing to the U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services, Administration on Aging, Attn.: Doris 
Summey, Office of Consumer Choice and Protection, Washington, DC 20201, 
by calling 202/357-3533, or on-line at http://www.grants.gov.

Address for Application Submission

    Applications may be mailed to the U.S. Department of Health and 
Human Services, Administration on Aging, Office of Grants Management, 
Washington, DC 20201, attn: Margaret Tolson (HHS-2005-AoA-Initial-SM).
    Applications may be delivered (in person, via messenger) to the 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Aging, 
Office of Grants Management, One Massachusetts Avenue, NW., Room

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4604, Washington, DC 20001, attn: Margaret Tolson (HHS-2005-AoA-
Initial-SM).
    If you elect to mail or hand deliver your application you must 
submit one original and two copies of the application; an 
acknowledgement card will be mailed to applicants. Instructions for 
electronic mailing of grant applications are available at http://www.grants.gov/.

2. Submission Dates and Times

    To receive consideration, applications must be received by the 
deadline listed in the DATES section of this Notice.

IV. Responsiveness Criteria

    Each application submitted will be screened to determine whether it 
was received by the closing date and time.
    Applications received by the closing date and time will be screened 
for completeness and conformity with the requirements outlined in 
Sections II and III of this Notice and the Program Announcement. Only 
complete applications that meet these requirements will be reviewed and 
evaluated competitively.

V. Application Review Information

    Eligible applications in response to this announcement will be 
reviewed according to the following evaluation criteria: Purpose and 
Need for Assistance (20 points); Approach, Work Plan and Activities (30 
points); Project Outcomes, Evaluation and Dissemination (30 points); 
and Level of Effort (20 points).

VI. Agency Contacts

    Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to U.S. Department 
of Health and Human Services, Administration on Aging, Attn.: Doris 
Summey, Office of Consumer Choice and Protection, Washington, DC 20201, 
telephone: (202) 357-3533.

    Dated: March 21, 2005.
Josefina G. Carbonell,
Assistant Secretary for Aging.
[FR Doc. 05-5808 Filed 3-23-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4154-01-P