[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 246 (Friday, December 23, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76288-76289]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-24301]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

[Document Identifier: CMS-10170]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, HHS.

    In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services (CMS) is publishing the following summary of proposed 
collections for public comment. Interested persons are invited to send 
comments regarding this burden

[[Page 76289]]

estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, 
including any of the following subjects: (1) The necessity and utility 
of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of 
the agency's functions; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and (4) the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology to minimize the information 
collection burden.
    1. Type of Information Collection Request: Extension of a currently 
approved collection; Title of Information Collection: Retiree Drug 
Subsidy (RDS) Payment Request and Instructions; Form Number: CMS-10170 
(OMB: 0938-0977); Use: Under section 1860D-22 of the Social 
Security Act (Act), added by the Medicare Prescription Drug, 
Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, plan sponsors (employers, 
unions) who offer prescription drug coverage to their qualified covered 
retirees are eligible to receive a 28 percent tax-free subsidy for 
allowable drug costs. To receive the subsidy, plan sponsors must submit 
required prescription cost data. CMS has contracted with an outside 
vendor (ViPS) to assist in the administration of the retiree drug 
subsidy (RDS) program; this effort is called the RDS Center. Plan 
sponsors will request subsidy payments on-line by logging on to the RDS 
secure Web site. Cost data required for each payment request may be 
entered into the RDS secure Web site, or uploaded to the RDS Center 
mainframe. Once the plan sponsor submits the payment request, the RDS 
Center will process the request to determine if payment is due and the 
amount of the payment. Frequency: Recordkeeping and Reporting--Monthly, 
Quarterly and Annually; Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions, 
Business or other for-profit, Federal Government, State, Local, or 
Tribal Government; Number of Respondents: 6,000; Total Annual 
Responses: 6,000; Total Annual Hours: 222,000.
    To obtain copies of the supporting statement and any related forms 
for the proposed paperwork collections referenced above, access CMS' 
Web site address at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/regulations/pra/, or E-mail 
your request, including your address, phone number, OMB number, and CMS 
document identifier, to [email protected], or call the Reports 
Clearance Office on (410) 786-1326.
    To be assured consideration, comments and recommendations for the 
proposed information collections must be received at the address below, 
no later than 5 p.m. on February 21, 2006. CMS, Office of Strategic 
Operations and Regulatory Affairs, Division of Regulations 
Development--C, Attention: Bonnie L Harkless, Room C4-26-05, 7500 
Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244-1850.

    Dated: December 13, 2005.
Michelle Shortt,
Director, Regulations Development Group, Office of Strategic Operations 
and Regulatory Affairs.
[FR Doc. 05-24301 Filed 12-22-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P