[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 150 (Tuesday, August 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47214-47216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16948]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Health and Human 
Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the intention of the Agency for 
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) approve the proposed information collection 
project: ``The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Social and 
Health Experiences Self-Administered Questionnaire and COVID-19 
Changes.'' This proposed information collection was previously 
published in the Federal Register on May 7, 2020 and allowed 60 days 
for public comment. AHRQ received two substantive comments from members 
of the public. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 
days for public comment.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by 30 days after date 
of publication of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports 
Clearance Officer, (301) 427-1477, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Project

``The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Social and Health 
Experiences Self-Administered Questionnaire and COVID-19 Changes''

    The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) consists of the 
following three components and has been conducted annually since 1996:
     Household Component (MEPS-HC): A sample of households 
participating in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) in the 
prior calendar year are interviewed 5 times over a 2 and one-half (2.5) 
year period. These 5 interviews yield two years of information on use 
of, and expenditures for, health care, sources of payment for that 
health care, insurance status, employment, health status and health 
care quality.
     Medical Provider Component: The MEPS-MPC collects 
information from medical and financial records maintained by hospitals, 
physicians, pharmacies and home health agencies named as sources of 
care by household respondents.

[[Page 47215]]

     Insurance Component: The MEPS-IC collects information on 
establishment characteristics, insurance offerings and premiums from 
employers. The MEPS-IC is conducted by the Census Bureau for AHRQ and 
is cleared separately.
    This request is for the MEPS-HC only. The OMB Control Number for 
the MEPS-HC is 0935-0118, which was last approved by OMB on November 8, 
2019, and will expire on November 30, 2022.
    The purpose of this request is to integrate several items into the 
MEPS-HC including several new questions related to COVID-19 including 
telehealth/telemedicine questions into the computer assisted personal 
interviewing (CAPI) questionnaire and a new self-administered 
questionnaire (SAQ) entitled, ``Social and Health Experiences,'' into 
the MEPS. The questions on COVID-19 capture information on any delay in 
care due to COVID-19. The questions will be administered through a 
Reporting Unit (RU)-level gate question with follow up questions asked 
at the person level as appropriate. Telehealth/telemedicine will be 
administered as its own event type with questions and probes mirroring 
those used for in-person medical provider visits. This SAQ will include 
questions in a dual mode (web and paper) self-administered 
questionnaire about social and behavioral determinants of health 
including questions about housing affordability and quality, 
neighborhood characteristics, food security, transportation needs, 
financial strain, smoking and physical activity, and experiences with 
discrimination, social support, general well-being, personal safety, 
and adverse circumstances in childhood. The information collected will 
be used to examine the relationship between measures of the social 
determinants of health and measures of health status, and the use and 
expense of health care services. The goal of this survey is to help 
understand the relationship between social determinants of health and 
health care need in order to ultimately improve health care and health.
    This study is being conducted by AHRQ through its contractors, 
Westat and RTI International, pursuant to AHRQ's statutory authority to 
conduct and support research on healthcare and on systems for the 
delivery of such care, including activities with respect to the cost 
and use of health care services and with respect to health statistics 
and surveys. 42 U.S.C. 299a(a)(3) and (8); 42 U.S.C. 299b-2.

Method of Collection

    Data collection will be for eligible adults (aged 18 and over). 
AHRQ proposes a dual-mode (web and paper) collection primarily to 
further protect respondents' privacy due to the sensitive nature of 
some of the items. Web completion will be the main mode with paper 
offered to those with barriers to internet access. In addition, due to 
COVID-19, in March of 2020, MEPS moved to telephone interviewing for 
all panels and rounds currently in the field with increased use of the 
web to facilitate respondent reporting; for example, the use of 
showcards. The current plan is resume at least some face-to-face 
interviewing during the fall rounds for Panels 23, 24, and 25. 
Moreover, Panels 23 and 24 are to be extended one year with the 
creation of Round 6 and 7 interviews in order to contribute to the data 
collected for data years 2020 and 2021. The data collected will offset 
any impact on response rates due to the pandemic or changes in primary 
mode for data collection.
    The new CAPI questions collecting information about COVID-19, 
including telehealth, will be folded into the regular processing stream 
of MEPS data to produce estimates of health care utilization and 
expenditures.

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden

    Exhibit 1 shows the estimated annualized burden hours for 
respondent's time to participate in this research. The addition of 
several questions related to COVID-19 and telehealth adds minimal 
burden in hours and costs to the core CAPI interview, estimated to add 
1 minute per interview and a total of 222 burden hours. The SAQ will be 
completed during Round 1, Panel 26, Round 3, Panel 25, and Round 5, 
Panel 24 by each person in the RU that is an eligible adult, an 
estimated 27,059 persons, and takes about 7 minutes to complete. The 
total annualized burden for this SAQ is estimated to be 3,157 hours.
    Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annualized cost burden associated 
with respondents' time to participate in this research. The total cost 
burden is estimated to be $82,244 annually ($5,403 for COVID-19 related 
research including telemedicine questions and the $76,841 for the SAQ.

                                  Exhibit 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of
                    Activity                         Number of     responses per     Hours per     Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       response          hours
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COVID-19 and Telehealth (telemedicine) questions        * 13,338               1            1/60             222
 included in the MEPS questionnaire.............
Social and Health Experiences SAQ; Adult SAQ--            27,059               1            7/60           3,157
 Year 2021......................................
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................          40,397             n/a             n/a           3,379
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* While the expected number of responding units for the annual estimates is 12,804, it is necessary to adjust
  for survey attrition of initial respondents by a factor of 0.96 (13.338 = 12/804/0.96).


                                   Exhibit 2--Estimated Annualized Cost Burden
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                                                     Number of     Total burden   Average hourly    Total cost
                    Activity                        respondents        hours        wage rate *       burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COVID-19 and Telehealth (telemedicine) questions          13,338             222          $24.34          $5,403
 included in the MEPS questionnaire.............
Social and Health Experiences SAQ (SDOH); Adult           27,059           3,157           24.34          76,841
 SAQ--Year 2021.................................
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................          40,397           3,379             n/a          82,244
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Mean hourly wage for All Occupations (00-0000).


[[Page 47216]]

Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2017 National Occupational 
Employment and Wage Estimates United States, U.S. Department of Labor, 
Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Request for Comments

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, comments on AHRQ's 
information collection are requested with regard to any of the 
following: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of AHRQ's health care research and 
health care information dissemination functions, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of AHRQ's 
estimate of burden (including hours and costs) of the proposed 
collection(s) of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information upon the 
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and included in the Agency's subsequent request for OMB approval of the 
proposed information collection. All comments will become a matter of 
public record.

    Dated: July 30, 2020.
Virginia L. Mackay-Smith,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 2020-16948 Filed 8-3-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P