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Proposed Information Collection; Request for Public Comment Health Disclosure and Claims Issues Project Survey [12/08/2006]
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Volume 71, Number 236, Page 71190-71191
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Proposed Information Collection; Request for Public Comment
Health Disclosure and Claims Issues Project Survey
ACTION: Notice
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)),
provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to
comment on proposed and continuing collections of information. This
program helps the Department assess the impact of its information
collection requirements and minimize the reporting burden on the public
and helps the public understand the Department's information collection
requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.
Currently, the Employee Benefits Security Administration is soliciting
comments on a proposed new information collection entitled the Health
Disclosure and Claims Issues Project Survey. A copy of the information
collection request (ICR) can be obtained without charge by contacting
the office listed below in the Addresses section of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 6,
2007.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Susan G. Lahne, Office of
Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-5716,
Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-8410; Fax: (202) 219-4745.
These are not toll-free numbers. Comments may also be submitted
electronically to the following Internet e-mail address:
ebsa.opr@dol.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
In 1999, the Department conducted a pilot project under which
approximately 200 group health plans were investigated for compliance
with
[[Page 71191]]
Part 7 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
In 2001, the Department initiated the Health Disclosure and Claims
Issues: Fiscal Year 2001 Compliance Project (HDCI), which sought to
increase compliance through investigations and improve the Department's
ability to provide effective compliance assistance by assessing more
comprehensively the extent and nature of compliance with Part 7 of
ERISA among group health plans. As a result of that project, the
Department broadened its compliance assistance efforts through a
combination of publications, outreach, self-audit materials, and other
compliance tools. As a follow-up to the Fiscal Year 2001 Compliance
Project, the Department proposes to conduct a second project, HDCI 2,
which is intended to measure changes in compliance with Part 7 of ERISA
and to improve the effectiveness of future compliance assistance
efforts. As part of HDCI 2, the Department proposes to conduct a narrow
scope telephone survey for the sole purpose of identifying an
appropriate sample of ERISA-covered single-employer group health plans
in two categories: (1) Plans sponsored by firms with 3-99 employees,
and (2) plans sponsored by firms with 100 or more employees. The survey
is necessary because the Department has no available information from
which to identify an appropriate sample of ERISA-covered single-
employer group health plans. Group health plans that are identified
through the telephone survey will be subject to investigation for
compliance with the requirements of the health coverage provisions of
Part 7 of ERISA. The investigations will be conducted under the
investigative authority of the Department and are not part of the
Health Disclosure and Claims Issues Project Survey. The Department has
determined that conducting a telephone survey is the simplest, least
burdensome method of obtaining the information necessary to identify
ERISA-covered single-employer plans for this purpose.
The telephone survey will be limited in scope and designed to
elicit only enough information to determine whether the firm that has
been contacted sponsors or is part of a controlled group of firms that
sponsors a group health plan subject to the provisions of Part 7.
Respondents will be asked by telephone if they provide health benefits
to their employees and, if so, the number of employees they have (to
determine whether the plan is subject to Part 7 of ERISA or if a small
plan exemption applies), and questions to determine whether the firm is
a subsidiary that is part of a controlled group of employers and,
therefore, whether the plan is sponsored by a parent that will need to
be contacted. A respondent's participation in the call will be
voluntary. The Department estimates that it will need to contact up to
5,000 firms in order to derive an adequate sample of ERISA-covered
single-employer group health plans in each of the two categories
described above. The goals of HDCI 2 are to identify and correct
violations of Part 7 of ERISA, calculate compliance rates, provide
compliance assistance regarding these provisions, and shape the
Department's future compliance assistance and investigative resources
strategies more efficiently and effectively.
II. Current Actions
This notice requests public comment pertaining to Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval of the information collection
contained in the telephone survey described above, which is necessary
for purposes of the Health Disclosure and Claims Issues Project Survey.
The Department intends, following the receipt of comments pursuant to
this notice, to submit an ICR to OMB requesting its approval of this
information collection. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, an information collection unless
it displays a valid OMB control number. A summary of the ICR and the
current burden estimates follows:
Type of Review: New collection.
Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration.
Title: Health Disclosure and Claims Issues Project Survey.
OMB Number: 1210-NEW.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit
organizations.
Total Respondents: 5000.
Total Responses: 5000.
Frequency: Once.
Average Time per Response: 5 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 417 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Cost Burden: $0.
III. Desired Focus of Comments
The Department is particularly interested in comments that:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., by permitting electronic
submission of responses.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the ICR submitted for OMB approval. They will also
become a matter of public record.
Joseph A. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security
Administration.
[FR Doc. E6-20912 Filed 12-7-06; 8:45 am]
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