[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 192 (Tuesday, October 4, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61294-61295]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25465]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

42 CFR Part 5


Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Designation of Medically 
Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas; Notice 
of Meeting

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Negotiated Rulemaking Committee meeting.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), notice is hereby given of the following 
meeting of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Designation of 
Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage 
Areas.

DATES: Meetings will be held on October 12, 2011, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. 
and October 13, 2011, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. All meeting times are Eastern 
Daylight Time (E.D.T.).

ADDRESSES: Meetings will be held at the Sheraton Suites Old Town 
Alexandria, 801 North Saint Asaph Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; 
703-836-4700.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information, please contact 
La Crystal McNair, National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, 
Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services 
Administration, Room 9-49, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, 
Rockville, Maryland 20857, Telephone (301) 443-3578, E-mail: 
[email protected], or visit http://www.hrsa.gov/advisorycommittees/shortage/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Status: The meeting will be open to the public.
    Purpose: The purpose of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on 
Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health 
Professional Shortage Areas is to establish criteria and a 
comprehensive methodology for Designation of Medically Underserved 
Populations and Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas, using 
a Negotiated Rulemaking (NR) process. It is hoped that use of the NR 
process will yield a consensus among technical experts and stakeholders 
on a new rule for designation of medically underserved populations and 
primary care health professions shortage areas, which would be 
published as an Interim Final Rule in accordance with Section 5602 of 
the Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148.
    Agenda: The meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 12, and 
Thursday, October 13, 2011. This will be the last meeting of the 
Committee, and the main purpose will be to review the draft report 
reflecting their decisions and deliberations prior to this meeting. The 
meeting will include a review of the major recommendations (regarding 
new methodologies) for the designation of Health Professional Shortage 
Areas and Medically Underserved Areas, the justification and support 
for these decisions, and the approval of the draft report (to be 
prepared in final discussion of various components) of a possible 
methodology for identifying areas of shortage and underservice, based 
on the recommendations of the Committee in the previous meeting. The 
final agenda will be available on the Committee's Web site: http://www.hrsa.gov/advisorycommittees/shortage/. Agenda items are subject to 
change as priorities dictate.
    Members of the public will have the opportunity to provide comments 
during the meeting on the afternoon of the last day. Requests from the 
public, to make oral comments or to provide written comments to the 
Committee, should be sent to LaCrystal McNair (at the contact address 
above) at least 10 days prior to the first day of the meeting, 
Wednesday, October 12, 2011. The meetings will be open to the public as 
indicated above, with attendance limited to the space available. 
Individuals who plan to attend and need special assistance, such as 
sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, should 
notify the contact person at least 10 days prior to the meeting.
    The Committee is working under tight timeframes in order to meet 
the reporting requirements in the Affordable

[[Page 61295]]

Care Act. Due to the complexity of the issue, the Committee requested 
an additional meeting for a final review of the key decisions and draft 
report prior to its submission to the Secretary by October 31, 2011. 
The logistical challenges of scheduling an additional meeting after it 
was requested in August 2011 hindered an earlier publication of this 
meeting notice.

    Dated: September 27, 2011.
Reva Harris,
Acting Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.
[FR Doc. 2011-25465 Filed 10-3-11; 8:45 am]
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