[Federal Register: December 2, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 231)]
[Notices]
[Page 72302-72303]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02de05-40]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Request for Public Comment; Public Meetings in Calendar Years
2005 and 2006; Economic Impact of Federal Health Care Regulations
AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the dates and locations of the
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) Town Hall meetings to be
held in calendar years 2005 and 2006 to solicit public comment on
quantifying the economic impact of major Federal regulations governing
the health care industry. These public meetings provide a forum for
interested parties to make oral presentations and/or to submit written
comments about the impact of regulations. In particular, commenters are
requested to provide an estimate of the economic impact of Federal
health care regulations, guidance documents, or paperwork requirements,
and also to describe the methods used to calculate the economic impact
of the regulations. The Town Hall meetings will be held in several
cities across the country to provide an opportunity for input. In
addition, individuals may also submit written comments for
consideration regardless of their ability to attend the Town Hall
meetings.
DATES: Meeting Dates: The first Town Hall meeting was held on November
3, 2005, in Washington, DC. The remaining meetings will be held on
December 8, 2005 in Chicago, Illinois; January 12, 2006 in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma; and February 2, 2006 in San Francisco, California.
Information about the Town Hall meetings and registration procedures
are available on the Web site http://aspe.hhs.gov/arrb/index.shtml.
Each meeting day will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. (in the
respective cities' time zones). On-site registration and sign-up for
public comments will open one hour before each meeting. Participants
are encouraged to pre-register for the meetings (see below for
registration information).
ADDRESSES: The December 8, 2005 Town Hall meeting will be held at:
Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611. Telephone: 312-751-8100. Fax: 312-
751-9205.
The January 12, 2006 Town Hall meeting will be held at: The
Sheraton Oklahoma City, One North Broadway, Oklahoma City, OK 73102.
Telephone: 405-235-2780. Fax: 405-232-4782.
The February 2, 2006 Town Hall meeting will be held at: Hilton San
Francisco Fisherman's Wharf, 2620 Jones Street, San Francisco, CA
94133. Telephone: 415-885-4700. Fax: 415-771-8945.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marty McGeein, Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 200 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20201. Telephone: (202) 690-6443.
Web site: Additional details regarding the Town Hall meeting
process for public comments on the economic impact of Federal health
care regulations, along with information on how to register and
guidelines for an effective presentation and/or electronic comment
submission, can be found on the project Web site at: http://aspe.hhs.gov/arrb/index.shtml
.
[[Page 72303]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
House Appropriations Committee Report 108-636 includes a provision
for the Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Planning and
Evaluation (HHS/ASPE) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to
establish an interagency committee, to be coordinated by HHS. The
committee's role is to examine major Federal regulations governing the
health care industry and to make suggestions regarding how health care
regulation could be coordinated and simplified to reduce costs and
burdens and improve translation of biomedical research into medical
practice, while continuing to protect patients. The interagency
committee will examine the economic impact of the major Federal
regulations governing the health care industry, and will explore both
immediate steps and longer-term proposals for reducing regulatory
burden, while maintaining the highest quality health care and other
patient protections.
In accord with the House Appropriations Committee's intent, ASPE
and OMB have undertaken several complementary activities. The HHS/OMB
interagency committee is conducting a comprehensive review of Federal
health care regulations, guidance, and paperwork requirements in order
to identify areas for reform. In order to facilitate the work of this
committee, ASPE and OMB are soliciting public nominations of regulatory
reforms in several ways. First, we published a notice in the Federal
Register on October 4, 2005, soliciting public nominations of reforms.
Second, we are holding a series of Town Hall meetings in several cities
across the country to provide an opportunity for input from health care
administrators, institutional providers, physicians, practitioners,
patients, and others about the impact of regulations, and to identify
other potential areas for reform.
The purpose of this Federal Register notice is to give potential
participants in these Town Hall meetings more information regarding how
their participation and the information they provide can facilitate the
consideration of their suggestions for regulatory reform. In
particular, participants in the Town Hall meetings and individuals who
submit written comments are requested to provide, to the extent
feasible, an estimate of the economic impact of health care
regulations, guidance documents, or paperwork requirements, and also to
describe the methods used to calculate the economic impact of the
regulations. The findings from the Town Hall meetings, other reform
nominations and comments from the public, and the subsequent work of
the HHS/OMB committee will be synthesized and included in a report to
Congress.
II. Registration
Registration Procedures: Registration can be completed online at
http://aspe.hhs.gov/arrb/index.shtml. To register by telephone, contact
Bridgette Saunders of Social and Scientific Systems at (301) 628-3158.
(Social and Scientific Systems is the Contractor to HHS/ASPE to provide
logistical support for the Town Hall meetings.) The following
information must be provided when registering: Name, organization name
and address, and consent to publish contact information on a
participants list and other reports to document the Town Hall Meeting.
A Social & Scientific Systems, Inc. staff member will confirm your
registration by mail, e-mail, or fax.
III. Presentations and Comment Format
A. ``5-Minute'' Public Comment Presentations
Meeting attendees can sign up at the meeting, on a first-come,
first-served basis, to make 5-minute presentations. We ask that
commenters focus on the economic impacts of health care regulations,
and quantify these impacts to the extent possible. Depending on the
number of persons who sign up to make public comments, we will decide
whether additional time will be allotted. In order to offer the same
opportunity to all attendees, there is no pre-registration for 5-minute
speakers. Attendees can sign up only on the day of the meeting to make
a 5-minute presentation. They must provide their name, title, and
organization name on the sign-up sheet, and identify the general area
of health care regulation that they will address.
B. Written Comments From Meeting Attendees
Written comments are welcome from the public regardless of
attendance at a Town Hall Meeting or whether they make an oral
presentation at a Town Hall Meeting. Written comments can be submitted
either at the meeting, or before or after the meeting via e-mail to the
mailboxes specified on the project Web site: http://aspe.hhs.gov/arrb/index.shtml
or via regular mail to Marty McGeein, Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 200 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201. Please note that electronic
submissions are preferred due to delays in receiving U.S. Postal Mail.
We are able to consider only those comments received in writing and/or
via e-mail by 5 p.m. EST on February 9, 2006.
IV. Special Accommodations
Individuals attending a meeting who are hearing- or visually-
impaired and have special requirements, or a condition that requires
special assistance or accommodations, must provide this information
when registering for the meeting and accommodations will be made.
Dated: November 29, 2005.
Donald Young,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), HHS.
John D. Graham,
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA),
OMB.
[FR Doc. 05-23582 Filed 12-1-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-05-P