[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 126 (Monday, July 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31323-31324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13962]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Community Living


Intent To Award a Single-Source Supplement for the National 
Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment

ACTION: Notice.

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    The Administration for Community Living (ACL) announces the intent 
to award a single-source supplemental to the current cooperative 
agreement held by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) for the National 
Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment (NCBOE). The purpose of the 
NCBOE is to provide technical assistance to states, area agencies on 
aging, and service providers to provide outreach and low-income 
benefits enrollment assistance, particularly to older individuals with 
greatest economic need for federal and state programs. The 
administrative supplement for FY 2019 will be for $390,861, bringing 
the total award for FY 2019 to $11,390,861. With this supplemental 
funding, NCOA will develop specialized training and tools around 
integrated care models that can be used by SHIPs, MIPPA grantees, and 
other partners of ACL like Centers for Independent Living (CILs) and 
the Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) to expand the NCBOE's 
outreach and education efforts targeting older adults with the greatest 
economic need. This includes reaching out to current MIPPA grantees to 
evaluate their needs and to determine what the grantees believe would 
be helpful and conducting other stakeholder group meeting(s) to discuss 
what should be created around these integrated care models. 
Stakeholders could include MIPPA and other ACL grantees, health plans, 
CMS, and other non-federal partners. Additionally, NCOA will continue, 
expand, and complete the work they are currently undertaking with the 
NCBOE award without disrupting services.

[[Page 31324]]

    Program Name: The National Center for Benefits Outreach and 
Enrollment (NCBOE).
    Recipient: National Council on Aging (NCOA).
    Period of Performance: The award will be issued for the current 
project period of September 30, 2017 through September 29, 2020.
    Total Award Amount: $11,390,861 in FY 2019.
    Award Type: Cooperative Agreement Supplement.
    Statutory Authority: The Medicare Improvements for Patients and 
Providers Act of 2008--Section 119, Public Law (Pub. L.) 110-275 as 
amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 
(Affordable Care Act), reauthorized by the American Taxpayer Relief Act 
of 2012 (ATRA) and reauthorized by section 110 of the Protecting Access 
to Medicare Act of 2014.
    Basis for Award: The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is currently 
funded to carry out the NCBOE Project for the period of September 30, 
2017 through September 29, 2020. Much work has already been completed 
and further tasks are currently being accomplished. It would be 
unnecessarily time consuming and disruptive to the NCBOE project and 
the beneficiaries being served for the ACL to establish a new grantee 
at this time when critical services are presently being provided in an 
efficient manner.
    The NCOA is uniquely placed to complete the work under the NCBOE 
grant. Since 2001, the NCOA has been the national leader in improving 
benefits access to vulnerable older adults. They have an unparalleled 
history of working with community based organizations to develop and 
replicate outreach and enrollment solutions, while maintaining and 
enhancing technology to make it easier and more efficient to find 
benefits. The NCOA through NCBOE accomplishes its mission by developing 
and sharing tools, resources, best practices, and strategies for 
benefits outreach and enrollment via its online clearinghouse, 
electronic and print publications, webinars, and training and technical 
assistance.
    In addition, the NCOA has the BenefitsCheckUp which is, by far, the 
nation's most comprehensive and widely-used web-based service that 
screens older and disabled adults with limited incomes and resources 
and informs them about public and private benefits for which they are 
very likely to be eligible. Since the BenefitsCheckUp was launched in 
2001, over 7.6 million individuals have been assisted to identify over 
$29.6 billion in potential annual benefits. In addition to a focus on 
Low-Income Subsidy and Medicare Savings Programs, the BenefitsCheckUp 
also includes more than 2,500 benefits programs from all 50 states and 
DC, including the addition of Medicaid expansion programs as part of 
Affordable Care Act; over 50,000 local offices for people to apply for 
benefits; nearly 2,000 application forms in every language in which 
they are available; and user-friendly mapping tools that allow 
streamlined access to program fact sheets and application forms based 
upon a person's locality.
    NCOA is successfully meeting all programmatic goals under the 
current NCBOE grant.
    For Further Information Contact: For further information or 
comments regarding this program supplement, contact Rebecca Kinney, 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for 
Community Living, Center for Integrated Programs, Office of Healthcare 
Information and Counseling; telephone (202) 795-7375; email 
[email protected]

    Dated: June 24, 2019.
Mary Lazare,
Principal Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2019-13962 Filed 6-28-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4154-01-P