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

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Care Financing Administration

[Document Identifier: HCFA-R-269]

Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request

In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Health Care Financing

Administration (HCFA), Department of Health and Human Services, has

submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the following

proposal for the collection of information. Interested persons are

invited to send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other

aspect of this collection of information, including any of the

following subjects: (1) the necessity and utility of the proposed

information collection for the proper performance of the agency's

functions; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways to

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be

collected; and (4) the use of automated collection techniques or other

forms of information technology to minimize the information collection

burden.

Type of Information Collection Request: Extension of a currently

approved collection;

Title of Information Collection: Evaluation of Competitive Bidding

Demonstration for Durable Medical Equipment (DME) and Prosthetics,

Orthotics, and Supplies (POS)--Data Collection Plan for Baseline

Beneficiary Surveys, Oxygen Consumer Survey, Medical Equipment and

Supplies Consumer Survey and Supporting Statute Section 4319 of the

Balanced Budget Act of 1997;

Form No.: HCFA-R-0269;

Use: Section 4319 of the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) mandates HCFA to

implement demonstration projects under which competitive acquisition

areas are established for contract award purposes for the furnishing of

Part B items and services, except for physician's services. The first

of these demonstration projects implements competitive bidding of

certain categories of durable medical equipment, prosthetics,

orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS). Under the law, suppliers can receive

payments from Medicare for items and services covered by the

demonstration only if their bids are competitive in terms of quality

and price. Each demonstration project may be conducted in up to three

metropolitan areas for a three year period. Authority for the

demonstration expires on December 31, 2002. The schedule for the

demonstration anticipates about a six month period between mailing the

bidding forms to potential bidders and the start of payments for DMEPOS

under the demonstration. HCFA intends to operate the demonstration in

two rounds, the first of two years, and the second of one year. HCFA

has announced that it intends to operate its first demonstration in

Polk County, Florida, which is the Lakeland-Winter Haven Metropolitan

Area.

This evaluation is necessary to determine whether access to care,

quality of care, and diversity of product selection are affected by the

competitive bidding demonstration. Although secondary data will be used

wherever possible in the evaluation, primary data from beneficiaries

themselves is required in order to gain an understanding of changes in

their level of satisfaction and in the quality and selection of the

medical equipment.

The purpose of the data collection plan is to describe the baseline

data collection procedures and the plan for analyzing the data to be

collected.

The baseline beneficiary surveys will take place March 1999 to May

1999, prior to the competitive bidding demonstration. We will sample

beneficiaries from claims summaries provided by the durable medical

equipment regional carrier (DMERC). The sample will be stratified into

two groups: beneficiaries who use oxygen and beneficiaries who are non-

oxygen users, i.e., users of the other four product categories covered

by the demonstration (hospital beds, enteral nutrition, urological

supplies, and surgical dressings) but not oxygen. To draw a comparison,

we will sample in both the demonstration site (Polk County, Florida)

and a comparison site (Brevard County, Florida) that matches Polk

County on characteristics such as number of Medicare beneficiaries and

DME/POS utilization.

The research questions to be addressed by the surveys focus on

access, quality, product selection, and satisfaction with products and

services. Our collection process will include fielding the survey for

oxygen users and the survey for non-oxygen users before the

demonstration begins and again after the new demonstration prices have

been put into effect. The same data collection process will be followed

in the comparison site (Brevard County). In the analysis of the data,

we will also control for socioeconomic factors. This will allow us to

separate the effects of the demonstration from beneficiary-or site-

specific effects.

Information collected in the beneficiary survey will be used by the

University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-M), Research Triangle Institute

(RTI), and Northwestern University (NU) to evaluate the Competitive

Bidding Demonstration for DME and POS. Results of the evaluation will

be presented to HCFA and to Congress, who will use the results to

determine whether the demonstration should be extended to other sites.

The information that these surveys will provide about access, quality,

and product selection will be very important to the future of

competitive bidding within the Medicare program. This is the first

Medicare demonstration that allows competitive bidding for services and

equipment provided to beneficiaries. A negative impact on access,

quality, or product selection would have significant implications for

the future of competitive bidding within the Medicare program.

Frequency: Annually;

Affected Public: Individuals or Households;

Number of Respondents: 2,560;

Total Annual Responses: 2,560;

Total Annual Hours: 724.

To obtain copies of the supporting statement for the proposed

paperwork collections referenced above, access HCFA's WEB SITE ADDRESS

at http://www.hcfa.gov/regs/prdact95.htm, or E-mail your request,

including your address and phone number, to P[email protected], or call

the Reports Clearance Office on (410) 786-1326. Written comments and

recommendations for the proposed information collections must be mailed

within 30 days of this notice directly to the OMB Desk Officer

designated at the following address: OMB Human Resources and Housing

Branch, Attention: Allison Eydt, New Executive Office Building, Room

10235, Washington, DC 20503.

Dated: May 20, 1999.

John P. Burke III,

HCFA Reports Clearance Officer, HCFA, Office of Information Services,

Security and Standards Group, Division of HCFA Enterprise Standards.

[FR Doc. 99-13522 Filed 5-26-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4120-03-P