[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 125 (Friday, June 30, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42371-42372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13968]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Community Living


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Public Comment Request; SHIP-SMP Survey of Group Outreach and 
Education Events (OMB Control Number 0985-0056)

AGENCY: Administration for Community Living, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Administration for Community Living (ACL) is announcing 
that the proposed collection of information listed above has been 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and 
clearance as required under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This 
30-Day notice collects comments on the information collection 
requirements related to the Proposed Revision and solicits comments on 
the information collection requirements related to the ``National SHIP-
SMP Beneficiary Survey of Group Outreach and Education Events.''

DATES: Comments on the collection of information must be submitted 
electronically by 11:59 p.m. (EST) or postmarked by July 31, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find the information collection by 
selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' 
or by using the search function. By mail to the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, New Executive Office Bldg., 725 17th St. 
NW, Rm. 10235, Washington, DC 20503, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for ACL.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shefy Simon, Administration for 
Community Living, Washington, DC 20201, 202-795-7572, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act, ACL has submitted the following proposed information collection to 
OMB for review and clearance. The SHIP-SMP Survey of Group Outreach and 
Education Events is a survey of individuals who attend outreach and 
education events provided by the State Health Insurance Assistance 
Program (SHIP) or Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP). These events help 
Medicare beneficiaries understand their Medicare benefits and options. 
These events also increase the ability of beneficiaries to identify 
fraud, waste, and abuse within health care programs generally, and 
Medicare/Medicaid specifically. The State Health Insurance Assistance 
Program (SHIP) was created under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act 
of 1990.
    This section of the law authorized the Department of Health and 
Human Services (HHS) to make grants to states to establish and maintain 
health insurance advisory service programs for Medicare beneficiaries. 
Grant funds were made available to support information, counseling, and 
assistance activities related to Medicare, Medicaid, and other health 
insurance options.
    The Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program was authorized in 1997 
under Titles II and IV of the Older Americans Act, the Omnibus 
Consolidated Appropriation Act of 1997 and the Health Insurance 
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The SMP mission is to 
empower and assist Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and 
caregivers, to prevent, detect, and report suspected healthcare fraud, 
errors, and abuse through outreach, counseling, and education. SMP 
grantees support ACL's goals of promoting increased choice and greater 
independence among older adults and individuals with disabilities. SMP 
activities enhance the financial, emotional, physical, and mental well-
being of older adults, thereby increasing their capacity to maintain 
security in retirement and make better financial and healthcare 
choices. SHIP-SMP grantees provide group outreach and education through 
presentation events, and this collection will survey the attendees of 
those events.
    The SHIP-SMP Survey of Group Outreach and Education Events will 
focus on group outreach and education events and the individuals who 
attend them, to determine if the target audience is satisfied with the 
information they are receiving. This is an extension with change to the 
Senior Medicare Program National Beneficiary Survey.
    The Office of Healthcare Information and Counseling (OHIC) 
conducted an evaluation of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and 
Providers Act (MIPPA) in 2022-23 that invoked the need to include 
collecting demographic data, including sexual orientation and gender 
identity (SOGI) information, in all the work OHIC touches and not just 
MIPPA grant work. ACL is adding the collection of SOGI data to this 
extension of the SHIP-SMP Survey of Group Outreach and Education 
Events. Including sexual orientation and gender identity questions in 
this information collection will provide data on topics such as the 
accessibility and utilization of services and programs funded by ACL by 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations and the health 
disparities that impact this community. Understanding these disparities 
can and should lead to improved service delivery for ACL's programs and 
populations served.
    An important gap in sociodemographic information on the SHIP-SMP 
Survey of Group Outreach and Education Events is a lack of items 
collecting sexual orientation and gender identity. Adding sexual 
orientation and gender identity items to SHIP-SMP Survey of Group 
Outreach and Education Events is part of ACL's strategy to address 
``Executive Order 13988 on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on 
the Basis of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation.'' Issued in 
January 2021, Executive Order 13988 called upon agencies to identify 
existing and new policies to promote equal treatment under the law and 
ensure that all persons are able to access healthcare and other 
essential services without being subjected to sex discrimination.
    To support alignment with Executive Order 13988, as well as 
Executive Orders 13985 and 14075, three items will be added to SHIP-SMP 
Survey of Group Outreach and Education Events to collect sexual 
orientation and gender identity. The first item will ask the individual 
if they think of themselves as gay/lesbian, straight, bisexual, or 
something else.
    This item has been fielded on the NHIS since 2013, where it has 
been closely monitored for comprehension and sensitivity. The second 
and third items are part of a two-step series to collect gender 
identity, which requires two items to accurately collect. Respondents 
are first asked to report

[[Page 42372]]

their sex assigned at birth on their original birth certificate (male, 
female, don't know, prefer not to answer). Next, respondents are asked 
to report their current gender identity (male, female, transgender, I 
use a different term, prefer not to answer). This two-step series 
aligns with recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, 
Engineering, and Medicine's (NASEM's) recent report, ``Measuring Sex, 
Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation.'' These items have also been 
cognitively tested for inclusion in the Medicare Current Beneficiaries 
Survey under the MCBS Generic Clearance and performed well.
    Estimated Program Burden: ACL estimates the burden associated with 
this collection of information as follows:

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                                                     Number of
       Respondent/data collection activity          respondents    Responses per     Hours per     Annual burden
                                                     (maximum)      respondent       response          hours
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Survey, Stratified Random Sample................           5,400               1            5/60             450
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    Total.......................................           5,400               1            5/60             450
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    Dated: June 19, 2023.
Alison Barkoff,
Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging.
[FR Doc. 2023-13968 Filed 6-29-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4154-01-P