Notice2024-14474
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 1, 2024
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Abstract
This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approve a revision of the currently approved information collection project: "Medical Expenditures Panel Survey--Household and Medical Provider Components." This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on April 19, 2024 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 126 (Monday, July 1, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 126 (Monday, July 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54466-54469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14474]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HHS.
ACTION: Notice
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the intention of the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approve a revision of the currently
approved information collection project: ``Medical Expenditures Panel
Survey--Household and Medical Provider Components.'' This proposed
information collection was previously published in the Federal Register
on April 19, 2024 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No comments
were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30
days for public comment.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by July 31, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. Copies of
the proposed collection plans, data collection instruments, and
specific details on the estimated burden can be obtained from the AHRQ
Reports Clearance Officer.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports
Clearance Officer, (301) 427-1477, or by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#104255405f424443535c555142515e53555f56565953554250717862613e7878633e777f66"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1745524758454344545b525645565954525851515e54524557767f6566397f7f6439707861">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Project
Medical Expenditures Panel Survey--Household and Medical Provider
Components
AHRQ requests that OMB approve a revision to AHRQ's collection of
information for the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey--Household and
Medical Provider Components: OMB Control number 0935-0118, expiration
November 30, 2025. Requested changes are for the Household Component
(MEPS-HC) only.
The MEPS was initiated in 1996. Each year a new panel of sample
households is selected. Recent annual MEPS-HC sample sizes average
about 13,500 households. Data can be analyzed at either the person,
family, or event level. The panel design of the survey, which includes
5 rounds of interviews covering 2 full calendar years, provides data
for examining person level changes in selected variables such as
expenditures, health insurance coverage, and health status.
This research has the following goals:
(1) To produce nationally representative estimates of health care
use, expenditures, sources of payment, and health insurance coverage
for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population.
(2) To produce nationally representative estimates of respondents'
health status, demographic and socio-economic characteristics,
employment, access to care, and satisfaction with health care.
Proposed Changes for the 2025 MEPS-HC:
<bullet> Core MEPS Interview and Adult SAQ--The Core interview and
the Adult Self-Administered Questionnaire (SAQ) include four questions
from the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems 5.0
(CAHPS 5.0). These questions will have wording changes to update them
to CAHPS 5.1. These wording changes will help identify telehealth
utilization and access, as well as maintain consistency between CAHPS
and MEPS-HC questionnaire items. Below are the four questions, both the
current version and the proposed version:
Current: In the last 12 months, did {you/{PERSON{time} {time} have
an illness, injury or condition that needed care right away in a
clinic, emergency room, or doctor's office?
Proposed: In the last 12 months, did {you/{PERSON{time} {time}
have an illness, injury, or condition that needed care right away?
Current: In the last 12 months, did you make any appointments for a
check-up or routine care for {yourself/{PERSON{time} {time} at a
doctor's office or clinic?
Proposed: In the last 12 months, did you make any in-person, phone,
or video appointments for a check-up or routine care for {yourself/
{PERSON{time} {time} ?
Current: Looking at card CS-2, in the last 12 months, how often did
you get an appointment for a check-up or routine care for {yourself/
{PERSON{time} {time} at a doctor's office or clinic as soon as {you/
he/she{time} needed?
Proposed: Looking at card CS-2, in the last 12 months, how often
did you get an appointment for a check-up or routine care for
{yourself/{PERSON{time} {time} as soon as {you/he/she{time} needed?
Current: Looking at card CS-3, in the last 12 months, not counting
times {you/{PERSON{time} {time} went to an emergency room, how many
times did {you/he/she{time} go to a doctor's office or clinic to get
health care?
Proposed: Looking at card CS-3, in the last 12 months, not counting
the times {you/{PERSON{time} {time} went to an emergency room, how
many times did {you/he/she{time} get health care in person, by phone,
or by video?
<bullet> Burdens and Economic Impacts of Medical Care Self-
Administered Questionnaire (ESAQ)--The Office of the Secretary--Patient
Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund is funding this SAQ to expand the
collection of economic outcomes data for patient-centered outcomes
research (PCOR) via the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The
ESAQ will be completed during Round 3, Panel 30 and Round 5, Panel 29
(Spring 2025) by adult household members (aged 18 and over). The ESAQ
will be administered in a mixed-mode of paper and online.
[[Page 54467]]
Respondents will be offered a $20.00 monetary incentive to complete the
ESAQ. This is a one-time data collection and the ESAQ will be removed
from the MEPS after the 2025 fielding. The goal of the ESAQ is to
enhance the MEPS data by adding new domains related to the economic
burdens of seeking and receiving health care, to study economic
outcomes in patient-centered outcomes research.
There is no other survey that is now or has been recently conducted
that will meet the objectives of the ESAQ. The ESAQ will supplement
MEPS data on direct care expenditures with data on major indirect
costs, including time costs of getting care and administrative hassles;
lost work productivity due to presenteeism, lost productivity in non-
market activities, and time costs of informal care. With this new data,
researchers will be able to better examine health care economic burdens
and equity in health care access, utilization, and outcomes, for
example to aggregate social costs of health care and poor health,
examine indirect costs associated with common conditions, and analyze
disparities and equity in indirect costs.
In developing the ESAQ, AHRQ consulted with several experts in the
area and used their expertise to identify priority topics and questions
that have already been tested and widely accepted. Nearly all items are
either from Federal surveys, federally funded surveys, or adapted from
instruments that have been carefully validated. Two questions related
to affordability and access are from Kaiser Family Foundation surveys.
One question about informal care was cognitively tested in a prior
question development project. One question on the high-priority topic
of administrative hassles of health insurance was developed from
phrases from the carefully tested and widely accepted Consumer
Assessment of Health Plans and Systems.
<bullet> Cancer Self-Administered Questionnaire (CSAQ)--The CSAQ
will be removed from the 2025 MEPS-HC.
This study is being conducted by AHRQ through its contractor,
Westat, pursuant to AHRQ's statutory authority to conduct and support
research on healthcare and on systems for the delivery of such care,
including activities with respect to the cost and use of health care
services and with respect to health statistics and surveys. 42 U.S.C.
299a(a)(3) and (8); 42 U.S.C. 299b-2.
Method of Collection
The MEPS-HC uses a combination of computer assisted personal
interviewing (CAPI), computer assisted video interviewing (CAVI), and
self-administered paper and web questionnaires, to collect information
about each household member, and the survey builds on this information
from interview to interview. CAVI is a new data collection technology
and offers the best of both telephone and in-person interviewing, while
offering opportunities for cost savings and more accurate reporting.
Estimated Annual Respondent Burden
Exhibit 1 shows the estimated annualized burden hours for the
respondents' time to participate in the MEPS-HC and the MEPS-MPC.
MEPS-HC:
1. MEPS-HC Core Interview--completed by 12,683 ``family level''
respondents. Since the MEPS-HC typically consists of 5 rounds of
interviewing covering a full two years of data, the annual average
number of responses per respondent is 2.5 responses per year. The MEPS-
HC core requires an average response time of 88 minutes to administer.
2. Adult SAQ--completed once during the 2-year panel, in rounds 2
and 4 during odd numbered years, making the annualized average 0.5
times per year. The Adult SAQ will be completed by 15,600 adults and
requires an average of 7 minutes to complete.
3. PSAQ--completed once during the 2-year panel, in rounds 2 and 4
during even numbered years, making the annualized average 0.5 times per
year. The PSAQ will be completed by 15,600 adults and requires an
average of 7 minutes to complete.
4. DCS--completed by 1,398 persons with diagnosed diabetes each
year and requires 3 minutes to complete.
5. Burdens and Economic Impacts of Medical Care SAQ--completed by
16,170 and is estimated to take 10 minutes to complete. This SAQ will
be completed only once in 2025 and will be removed in 2026; to
annualize the burden hours the number of responses per respondent is
0.5 times per year.
6. Authorization forms for the MEPS-MPC and Pharmacy Survey--
completed by 7,386 respondents. Each respondent will complete an
average of 5.2 forms each year, with each form requiring an average of
3 minutes to complete.
7. Validation interview--conducted with approximately 1,826
respondents each year and requires 5 minutes to complete.
The total annual burden hours for the respondent's time to
participate in the MEPS-HC is estimated to be 51,814 hours.
MEPS-MPC:
1. Contact Guide/Screening Call--conducted with 38,683 providers
and pharmacies each year and requires 5 minutes to complete.
2. Home Care Providers Event Form--completed by 540 providers, with
each provider completing an average of 5 forms and each form requiring
3 minutes to complete.
3. Office-based Providers Event Form--completed by 9,300 providers.
Each provider will complete an average of 2.8 forms and each form
requires 3 minutes to complete.
4. Separately Billing Doctors Event Form--will be completed by
4,676 providers, with each provider completing 1.2 forms on average,
and each form requiring 3 minutes to complete.
5. Hospital Event Form--completed by 3,935 hospitals or HMOs. Each
hospital or HMO will complete 5.9 forms on average, with each form
requiring 3 minutes to complete.
6. Institutions (non-hospital) Event Form--completed by 86
institutions, with each institution completing 1.3 forms on average,
and each form requiring 3 minutes to complete.
7. Pharmacy Event Form--completed by 6,112 pharmacies. Each
pharmacy will complete 31.3 forms on average, with each form requiring
3 minutes to complete.
The total burden hours for the respondent's time to participate in
the MEPS-MPC is estimated to be 15,674 hours. The total annual burden
hours for the MEPS-HC and MPC is estimated to be 67,488 hours.
[[Page 54468]]
Exhibit 1--MEPS-HC and MPC Estimated Annualized Respondents and Burden Hours, 2025 to 2027
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Number of Number of
Form name respondents responses per Hours per Total burden
\a\ respondent response hours
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MEPS-HC
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1. MEPS-HC Core Interview....................... 12,683 2.5 88/60 46,504
2. Adult SAQ *.................................. 15,600 0.5 7/60 910
3. Preventive Care SAQ (PSAQ) **................ 15,600 0.5 7/60 910
4. Diabetes Care Survey (DCS)................... 1,398 1 3/60 70
5. Burdens and Economic Impacts of Medical Care 16,170 0.5 10/60 1,348
SAQ............................................
6. Authorization forms for the MEPS-MPC Provider 7,386 5.2 3/60 1,920
and Pharmacy Survey............................
7. MEPS Validation Interview.................... 1,826 1 5/60 152
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Subtotal for the MEPS-HC.................... 70,663 .............. .............. 51,814
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MEPS-MPC
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1. Contact Guide/Screening Call................. 38,683 1 5/60 3,224
2. Home Care Providers Event Form............... 540 5.0 3/60 135
3. Office-based Providers Event Form............ 9,300 2.8 3/60 1,302
4. Separately Billing Doctors Event Form........ 4,676 1.2 3/60 281
5. Hospitals & HMOs (Hospital Event Form)....... 3,935 5.9 3/60 1,161
6. Institutions (non-hospital) Event Form....... 86 1.3 3/60 6
7. Pharmacies Event Form........................ 6,112 31.3 3/60 9,565
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Subtotal for the MEPS-MPC................... 63,332 .............. .............. 15,674
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Grand Total............................. 133,995 .............. .............. 67,488
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* The Adult SAQ is completed once every two years, on the odd numbered years.
** The PSAQ is completed once every two years, on the even numbered years.
\a\ See the Supporting Statement Part B, Table 1 and Table 3, for information on the sample size and number of
respondents.
Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annual cost burden associated with
the respondents' time to participate in this information collection.
The annual cost burden for the MEPS-HC is estimated to be $1,631,105
and the annual cost burden for the MEPS-MPC is estimated to be
$326,612. The total annual cost burden for the MEPS-HC and MPC is
estimated to be $1,957,716.
Exhibit 2--Estimated Annualized Cost Burden
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Total burden Average hourly Total cost
Form name hours wage rate burden
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MEPS-HC
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1. MEPS-HC Core Interview....................................... 46,504 * $31.48 $1,463,946
2. Adult SAQ *.................................................. 910 * 31.48 28,647
3. Preventive Care SAQ (PSAQ) **................................ 910 * 31.48 27,082
4. Diabetes Care Survey (DCS)................................... 70 * 31.48 2,204
5. Burdens and Economic Impacts of Medical Care SAQ............. 1,348 * 31.48 42,435
6. Authorization forms for the MEPS-MPC Provider and Pharmacy 1,920 * 31.48 60,442
Survey.........................................................
7. MEPS Validation Interview.................................... 152 * 31.48 4,785
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Subtotal for the MEPS-HC.................................... 51,814 .............. 1,631,105
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MEPS-MPC
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1. Contact Guide/Screening Call................................. 3,224 ** 20.85 67,220
2. Home Care Providers Event Form............................... 135 ** 20.85 2,815
3. Office-based Providers Event Form............................ 1,302 ** 20.85 27,147
4. Separately Billing Doctors Event Form........................ 281 ** 20.85 5,859
5. Hospitals & HMOs (Hospital Event Form)....................... 1,161 ** 20.85 24,207
6. Institutions (non-hospital) Event Form....................... 6 ** 20.85 125
7. Pharmacies Event Form........................................ 9,565 ** 20.83 199,239
-----------------------------------------------
Subtotal for the MEPS-MPC................................... 15,674 .............. 326,612
-----------------------------------------------
Grand Total............................................. 67,488 .............. 1,957,716
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* Mean hourly wage for All Occupations (00-0000).
** Mean hourly wage for Medical Secretaries (43-6013).
*** Mean hourly wage for Pharmacy Technicians (29-2052).
[[Page 54469]]
Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2023 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates United States,
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Request for Comments
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520, comments on AHRQ's information collection are requested with
regard to any of the following: (a) whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of AHRQ's health
care research and health care information dissemination functions,
including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the
accuracy of AHRQ's estimate of burden (including hours and costs) of
the proposed collection(s) of information; (c) ways to enhance the
quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and
(d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information upon
the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques
or other forms of information technology.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and included in the Agency's subsequent request for OMB approval of the
proposed information collection. All comments will become a matter of
public record.
Dated: June 26, 2024.
Marquita Cullom,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-14474 Filed 6-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P
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