[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5253-5254]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2275]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

[Document Identifier: OS-0990-New; 60-day Notice]


Agency Information Collection Request. 60-Day Public Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.
    In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the Secretary (OS), 
Department of Health and Human Services, is publishing the following 
summary of a proposed information collection request for public 
comment. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding this 
burden 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.
    To obtain copies of the supporting statement and any related forms 
for the proposed paperwork collections referenced above, email your 
request, including your address, phone number, OMB number, and OS 
document identifier, to [email protected], or call the 
Reports Clearance Office on (202) 690-6162. Written comments and 
recommendations for the proposed information collections must be 
directed to the OS Paperwork Clearance Officer at the above email 
address within 60-days.
    Proposed Project: The Children's Health Insurance Program 
Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) Express Lane Eligibility (ELE) 
Evaluation--OMB No. 0990-NEW--Assistant Secretary Planning and 
Evaluation (ASPE).
    Abstract: The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and 
Evaluation (ASPE) is requesting the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) approval on a new collection to evaluate the implementation of a 
new policy known as Express Lane Eligibility (ELE). With ELE, a state's 
Medicaid and/or Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) can rely on 
another agency's eligibility findings to qualify children for health 
coverage, despite their different methods of assessing income or 
otherwise determining eligibility.
    CHIPRA authorized an extensive, rigorous evaluation of ELE, 
creating an exceptional opportunity to document ELE implementation 
across states and to assess the changes to coverage or administrative 
costs that may have resulted. The evaluation also provides an 
opportunity to understand other methods of simplified enrollment that 
states have been pursuing and to assess the benefits and potential 
costs of these methods compared to those of ELE. To answer key research 
questions, ASPE will draw on 5 primary data collections including (1) 
collecting administrative cost data from ELE and non-ELE states, (2) 
collecting enrollment data from ELE and non-ELE states, (3) conducting 
case studies in ELE and non-ELE states, including key informant 
interviews and focus groups, (4) conducting a 51-state (50 states and 
the District of Columbia) survey, and (5) holding quarterly monitoring 
calls with 30 states. This request seeks clearance on all data 
collections except the collection of administrative cost and enrollment 
data for ELE states. The administrative cost data, enrollment data, 
case studies, and 51-state survey will take place only once over the 
course of the two year evaluation. The quarterly monitoring calls will 
take place take place 5 times over the course of the 13 months and will 
include an initial call of up to an hour in length and 4 shorter 
follow-up calls of about 15 minutes in length each. The administrative 
cost and enrollment data collection includes contact with key 
informants and state-level computer programmers and will be collected 
using Microsoft document templates. The qualitative case studies will 
include site visit interviews with state and local-level key informants 
in 8 ELE states and 6 non-ELE states, plus focus groups with

[[Page 5254]]

parents of children whose eligibility was established or renewed 
through ELE methods and parents of children enrolled or renewed through 
non-ELE routes. The survey component will be conducted using a Dataweb 
program as well as a paper and pencil option and will involve Medicaid 
and CHIP program directors from the 50 states and the District of 
Columbia. Finally, the quarterly monitoring calls will be conducted 
with a sample of 30 states drawn from both ELE and non-ELE states.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Table
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Number of    Average burden
             Forms                   Type of         Number of     responses per  (in hours) per   Total burden
                                   respondent       respondents     respondent       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administrative Cost Discussion  Key informants..              18               1             1.5              27
 Guide (Attachment B).
Enrollment Extraction Form      State-level                    6               1              40             240
 (Attachment C).                 computer
                                 programmers.
ELE Case Study Protocol         Key informants               120               1               1             120
 (Attachment D1).                (ELE states--
                                 state--and
                                 local--levels).
Non-ELE Case Study Protocol     Key informants                90               1               1              90
 (Attachment D2).                (non-ELE
                                 states-- state--
                                 and local--
                                 levels).
Moderator's Guide (Attachments  Focus group                  240               1             1.5             360
 E1 and E2).                     participants (2
                                 focus groups in
                                 8 ELE states
                                 and 2 focus
                                 groups in 4 non-
                                 ELE states = 24
                                 focus groups).
51-State Survey (Attachment F)  Medicaid and                  51               1           45/60              38
                                 CHIP officials.
Quarterly Interview Protocol    Key informants                30               5           30/60              75
 (Attachment G).                 (quarterly
                                 monitoring
                                 calls).
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............             950
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Keith A.Tucker,
Office of the Secretary, Paperwork Reduction Act Reports Clearance 
Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-2275 Filed 2-1-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-05-P