[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5014-5015]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01828]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Request and 
Comment Request

    The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes a list of 
information collection packages requiring clearance by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with Public Law 104-13, the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. This notice 
includes revisions of OMB-approved information collections.
    SSA is soliciting comments on the accuracy of the agency's burden 
estimate; the need for the information; its practical utility; ways to 
enhance its quality, utility, and clarity; and ways to minimize burden 
on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. Mail, email, or fax your 
comments and recommendations on the information collection(s) to the 
OMB Desk Officer and SSA Reports Clearance Officer at the following 
addresses or fax numbers.

(OMB), Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA, 
Fax: 202-395-6974, Email address: [email protected].
(SSA), Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Reports Clearance 
Director, 3100 West High Rise, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 
21235, Fax: 410-966-2830, Email address: [email protected].

    I. The information collection below is pending at SSA. SSA will 
submit it to OMB within 60 days from the date of this notice. To be 
sure we consider your comments, we must receive them no later than 
March 31, 2014. Individuals can obtain copies of the collection 
instruments by writing to the above email address.
    Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount--Life-Changing 
Event Form--0960-0784. Federally mandated reductions in the Federal 
Medicare Part B and prescription drug coverage subsidies result in 
selected Medicare recipients paying higher premiums with income above a 
specific threshold. The amount of the premium subsidy reduction is an 
income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA). The Internal Revenue 
Service (IRS) transmits income tax return data to SSA for SSA to 
determine the IRMAA. SSA uses the Form SSA-44 to determine if a 
recipient qualifies for a reduction in the IRMAA. If affected Medicare 
recipients believe SSA should use more recent tax data because a life-
changing event that significantly reduces their income, they can report 
these changes to SSA and ask for a new initial determination of their 
IRMAA. The respondents are Medicare Part B and prescription drug 
coverage recipients and enrollees with modified adjusted gross income 
over a high-income threshold who experience one of the eight 
significant life-changing events.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                  Average burden     Estimated
             Modality of completion                  Number of     Frequency of    per response    total annual
                                                    respondents      response        (minutes)    burden (hours)
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Personal Interview (SSA field office)...........         147,000               1              30          73,500
SSA-44 Paper Form...............................          39,000               1              45          29,250
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................         186,000                                         102,750
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    II. SSA submitted the information collections below to OMB for 
clearance. Your comments regarding the information collections would be 
most useful if OMB and SSA receive them 30 days from the date of this 
publication. To be sure we consider your comments, we must receive them 
no later than March 3, 2014. Individuals can obtain copies of the OMB 
clearance packages by writing to [email protected].
    1. Missing and Discrepant Wage Reports Letter and Questionnaire--26 
CFR 31.6051-2--0960-0432. Each year employers report the wage amounts 
they paid their employees to the IRS for tax purposes, and separately 
to SSA for retirement and disability coverage purposes. The same 
figures should be reported to SSA and the IRS. However, each year some 
employer wage reports SSA receives are less than the wage amounts 
employers report to the IRS. SSA uses Forms SSA-L93-SM, SSA-L94-SM, 
SSA-95-SM, and SSA-97-SM to ensure employees receive full credit for 
their wages. Respondents are employers who reported lower wage amounts 
to SSA than they reported to the IRS.
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                  Average burden     Estimated
             Modality of completion                  Number of     Frequency of    per response    total annual
                                                    respondents      response        (minutes)    burden (hours)
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SSA-95-SM and SSA-97-SM (and accompanying cover          360,000               1              30         180,000
 letters SSA-L93, L94)..........................
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[[Page 5015]]

    2. Benefit Offset National Demonstration--0960-0785. SSA is 
undertaking the Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND)--a 
demonstration and evaluation of policy changes and services on the 
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program--in an effort to 
produce strong evidence about the effectiveness of potential solutions 
that would improve the historically very low rate of return to work 
among SSDI beneficiaries. Under current law, Social Security 
beneficiaries lose their SSDI benefit if they have earnings or work 
activity above the threshold of Substantial Gainful Activity. The 
benefit-offset component of this demonstration reduces benefits by $1 
for each $2 in earnings above the BOND threshold, resulting in a 
gradual reduction in benefits as earnings increase. The experimental 
design for BOND tests a benefit offset alone and in conjunction with 
enhanced work incentives counseling. The central research questions 
include:
     What is the effect of the benefit offset alone on 
employment and other outcomes?
     What is the effect of the benefit offset in combination 
with enhanced work incentives counseling on employment and other 
outcomes?
    The public survey data collections have four components--an impact 
study, a cost-benefit analysis, a participation analysis, and a process 
study. The data collections are a primary source for data to measure 
the effects of a more generous benefit offset and the provision of 
enhanced work incentives counseling on SSDI beneficiaries' work efforts 
and earnings. Ultimately, these data will benefit researchers, policy 
analysts, policy makers and the United States Congress in a wide range 
of program areas. The effects of BOND on the well-being of SSDI 
beneficiaries could manifest themselves in many dimensions and could be 
relevant to an array of other public programs. This project offers the 
first opportunity to obtain reliable measures of these effects based 
upon a nationally representative sample. The long-term indirect 
benefits of this research are therefore likely to be substantial. 
Respondents are SSDI beneficiaries and concurrent SSDI beneficiaries 
and Supplemental Security Income recipients who we randomly assign to 
the study (Stage 1), and SSDI beneficiaries who agree to participate in 
the study (Stage 2).
    Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information 
collection.

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                                                                                  Average burden     Estimated
     Modality of completion          Number of     Frequency of      Number of     per response    total annual
                                    respondents      response        responses       (minutes)    burden (hours)
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Participation Agreement.........          12,954               1          12,954              20           4,318
Baseline Survey.................          12,954               1          12,954              41           8,852
Stage 2, 12-month Interim Survey          10,363               1          10,363              29           5,009
Stage 1, 36-month Survey........           8,000               1           8,000              49           6,533
Stage 2, 36-month Survey........          10,363               1          10,363              60          10,363
Enhanced Work Incentives                   3,089               1           3,089              35           1,802
 Assessment.....................
Key Informant Interviews........             100               7             700              60             700
Stage 2, Participant Focus                   600               1             600              90             900
 Groups.........................
Stage 1, First Contact Letter                500               1             500               3              25
 Survey.........................
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    Totals......................          89,923                          59,523                          38,502
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    Dated: January 27, 2014.
Faye Lipsky,
Reports Clearance Director, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-01828 Filed 1-29-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P