[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 29, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32256-32257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-12691]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services


Privacy Act of 1974; Report of an Altered CMS System of Records 
Notice

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Altered System of Records Notice (SORN).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974 
(5 USC 552a), CMS proposes the following alterations to existing system 
of records (SOR) number 09-70-0560 ``Health Insurance Exchanges (HIX) 
Program,'' published at 78 Federal Register (FR) 8538 (February 6, 
2013):
    1. Add ``Relevant Individual(s)'' as a new category of individuals;
    2. Add personally identifiable information (PII) pertaining to 
``Relevant Individual(s)'' as a new category of records;
    3. Add new purposes to describe the reason for the above additions; 
and
    4. Revise existing routine uses to authorize the agency to disclose 
PII of ``Relevant Individual(s)'' to parties outside the agency.

DATES: Effective Dates: Effective 30 days after publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register unless comments received on or before 
that date result in revisions to this notice.

ADDRESSES: The public should send comments to: CMS Privacy Officer, 
Division of Privacy Policy, Privacy Policy and Compliance Group, Office 
of E-Health Standards & Services, Offices of Enterprise Management, 
CMS, Room S2-24-25, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244-
1850. Comments received will be available for review at this location, 
by appointment, during regular business hours, Monday through Friday 
from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., Eastern Time zone.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Mandelbaum, JD, MHA, Office of 
Health Insurance Exchanges, Consumer Information and Insurance Systems 
Group, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, 7210 
Ambassador Road, Baltimore, MD 21244, Office Phone: (410) 786-1762,

[[Page 32257]]

Facsimile: (301) 492-4353, Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  CMS proposes to alter the SOR to add 
``Relevant Individual(s)'' as a category of individuals whose PII is 
necessary for determining the eligibility of applicants for insurance 
affordability programs or a certification of exemption under provisions 
of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. 111-148), as 
amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 
(Pub. L. 111-152) (collectively referred to as the Affordable Care Act) 
and CMS' implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
    For the purpose of this SORN, ``Relevant Individual(s)'' means any 
individual listed on an application for an insurance affordability 
program or certification of exemption whose PII may bear upon the 
eligibility of an individual for an insurance affordability program (as 
defined in 42 CFR 435.4 and 45 CFR 155.20),\1\ or certification of 
exemption. These individuals include non-applicant household members/
family members, certain non-applicant tax payers or tax filers, and 
spouses and parents of applicants. Due to the potential impact of the 
Relevant Individuals' PII on an individual's eligibility determination 
this category of individuals is added to the SOR.
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    \1\ See also 78 FR 8539, 8540.
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    Additionally, Routine Use 3 is proposed to be modified to 
permit CMS to disclose information about Relevant Individual(s), in 
addition to applicants, in order to obtain information from other 
Federal and State agencies and third party data sources that provide 
information to CMS, pursuant to agreements with CMS, for purposes of 
determining eligibility of applicants to enroll in qualified health 
plans (QHP) through an Exchange, in insurance affordability programs, 
or for a certification of exemption from the individual responsibility 
requirement. Routine Use 8 is proposed to be modified to 
enable CMS to provide information about Relevant Individual(s), in 
addition to applicants, to application filers who are filing on behalf 
of those applicants for whom an eligibility determination will require 
information about the Relevant Individual(s).
    The proposed changes require the following alterations to sections 
of the notice.
    1. Categories of Individuals Covered by the System: Remove the 
``and'' before ``(7)'' and add the following at the end of this 
section:

``and (8) Individuals, including non-applicant household members/family 
members, non-applicant tax payers or tax filers, and spouses and 
parents of applicants, who are listed on the application and whose PII 
may bear upon a determination of the eligibility of an individual for 
an insurance affordability program and for certifications of exemption 
from the individual responsibility requirement. Such individuals will 
hereafter be referred to as ``Relevant Individual(s)''.''
    2. Categories of Records in the System: Add the following to the 
end of the first paragraph of this section:

``The system will collect and maintain information pertaining to 
Relevant Individual(s) that includes the following: First name, last 
name, middle initial, permanent residential address, date of birth, SSN 
(if the Relevant Individual has one or is required to provide it as 
specified in 45 CFR 155.305(f)(6)), taxpayer status, gender, residency, 
relationship to applicant, employer information, and household income, 
including tax information from the IRS, income information from the 
Social Security Administration, and financial information from other 
third party sources.''
    3. Purpose(s) of the System: Replace the first sentence of the 
first paragraph of this section with the following sentence:

``The purpose of this system is to collect, create, use and disclose 
PII about individuals who apply for eligibility determinations for 
enrollment in a QHP through the Exchange, for insurance affordability 
programs, and for certifications of exemption from the individual 
responsibility requirement and on Relevant Individual(s) whose PII may 
bear upon a determination of the eligibility of an individual for an 
insurance affordability program and for certifications of exemption 
from the individual responsibility requirement.''
    4. Routine Use 3: Delete entry and replace with:

``To disclose information about applicants and Relevant Individual(s) 
in order to obtain information from other Federal agencies and State 
agencies and third party data sources that provide information to CMS, 
pursuant to agreements with CMS, for purposes of determining the 
eligibility of applicants to enroll in QHPs through an Exchange, in 
insurance affordability programs, or for a certification of exemption 
from the individual responsibility requirement.''
    5. Routine Use 8: Delete entry and replace with:

``To provide information about applicants and Relevant Individual(s) to 
applicants/enrollees, authorized representatives of applicants/
enrollees, and application filers, who are filing on behalf of those 
applicants, when relevant and necessary to determine eligibility for 
enrollment in a QHP through an Exchange, insurance affordability 
programs, or a certification of exemption from the individual 
responsibility requirement.''
    The information collected by this system and the purposes for which 
it is used and disclosed by CMS are described in the modifications to 
the SORN as stated above.

Michelle Snyder,
Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services.
[FR Doc. 2013-12691 Filed 5-28-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-03-P