Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration

Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request

Periodically, the Health Resources and Services Administration

(HRSA) publishes abstracts of information collection requests under

review by the Office of Management and Budget, in compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a

copy of the clearance requests submitted to OMB for review, call the

HRSA Reports Clearance Office on (301)-443-1129.

The following request has been submitted to the Office of

Management and Budget for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995:

Proposed Project: The Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL)

Program: Physicians's Certification of Borrower's Total and

Permanent Disability Form (OMB No. 0915-0204)

[[Page 10029]]

--Extension and Revision--The Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL)

program provides federally-insured loans to students in schools of

allopathic medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, veterinary

medicine, optometry, podiatric medicine, pharmacy, public health,

allied health, or chiropractic, and graduate students in health

administration or clinical psychology. Eligible lenders, such as banks,

savings and loan associations, credit unions, pension funds, State

agencies, HEAL schools, and insurance companies, make HEAL loans which

are insured by the Federal Government against loss due to borrower's

death, disability, bankruptcy, and default. The basic purpose of the

program is to assure the availability of funds for loans to eligible

students who need to borrow money to pay for their educational loans.

The HEAL borrower, the borrower's physician, and the holder of the

loan completes the Physician's Certification form to certify that the

HEAL borrower meets the total and permanent disability provisions.

The HEAL program is being phased out and no new loans will be made

after September 30, 1998 unless reauthorization is enacted. We are,

however, requesting a 3-year extension of the OMB approval of the HEAL

Physician's Certification of Borrower's Total and Permanent Disability

Form, HRSA-539 because this form will be used throughout the repayment

period for existing loans. The Department uses this form to obtain

information about disability claims which includes the following: (1)

the borrower's consent to release medical records to the Department of

Health and Human Services and to the holder of the borrower's HEAL

loans, (2) pertinent information supplied by the certifying physician,

(3) the physician's certification that the borrower is unable to engage

in any substantial gainful activity because of a medically determinable

impairment that is expected to continue for a long and indefinite

period of time or to result in death, and (4) information from the

lender on the unpaid balance. Failure to submit the required

documentation will result in disapproval of a disability claim. The

form is being revised to make submission of medical documentation

mandatory rather than optional.

The estimate of burden for the Physician's Certification form is as

follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Responses Total

Type of respondent Number of per Number of Hours per response burden

respondents respondent responses hours

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Borrower............................ 100 1 100 5 minutes............ 8

Physician........................... 100 1 100 90 minutes........... 150

Loan Holder......................... 32 3.1 100 10 minutes........... 17

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total......................... 232 ............ 300 ..................... 175

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed

information collection should be sent on or before March 30, 1998 to:

Laura Oliven, Human Resources and Housing Branch, Office of Management

and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, D.C.

20503.

Dated: February 24, 1998.

Jane Harrison,

Acting Director, Division of Policy Review and Coordination.

[FR Doc. 98-5051 Filed 2-26-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160-15-P