Notice2026-20357
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request
Primary source
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Published
October 5, 2026
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 the revision of a currently approved information collection project "AHRQ Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Database for Health Plans" (OMB No. 0935-0165). This information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on July 30, 2028, and allowed 60 days for public comment. AHRQ did not receive any comments. 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 91 Issue 191 (Monday, October 5, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 191 (Monday, October 5, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63280-63282]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-20357]
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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 the revision of a currently
approved information collection project ``AHRQ Consumer Assessment of
Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Database for Health Plans''
(OMB No. 0935-0165). This information collection was previously
published in the Federal Register on July 30, 2028, and allowed 60 days
for public comment. AHRQ did not receive any comments. The purpose of
this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by November 4, 2026.
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: Margie Shofer, AHRQ Reports Clearance
Officer, 301-427-1696 or by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#287a6d78677a7c7b6b646d697a69666b6d676e6e616b6d7a6849405a590640405b064f475e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="207265706f727473636c656172616e63656f66666963657260414852510e4848530e474f56">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The CAHPS Health Plan Database consists of data from the AHRQ CAHPS
Health Plan Survey. Health plans in the U.S. are asked to voluntarily
submit data from the survey to AHRQ, through its contractor, Westat.
The CAHPS Health Plan Survey is a tool for collecting standardized
information on enrollees' experiences with health plans and their
services. The development of the CAHPS Health Plan Survey began in 1995
in response to requests from health plans, purchasers, and the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide comparative data to
support public reporting of health plan ratings, health plan
accreditation and quality improvement. Since that time, the survey has
been refined and updated to reflect field feedback from industry
experts; reports from health plan participants, data collection vendors
(the organization that helps carry out the technical and operational
parts of a survey and database submission), and other users; evidence
from cognitive testing and focus groups; and extensive psychometric
data analysis. Version 5.0 of the Health Plan Survey was released in
2012. The National Quality Forum endorsed the 5.0 version of the Health
Plan Survey in 2015. Version 5.1 was released in 2020 to acknowledge
the various ways in which enrollees may receive care: in person, by
phone, or by video.
The collection of information for the CAHPS Health Plan Database is
being conducted through its contractor, Westat, pursuant to AHRQ's
statutory authority to conduct and support research on health care and
systems for the delivery of such care, including activities with
respect to the quality, effectiveness, efficiency, appropriateness and
value of health care services, quality measurement and development, and
database development. See 42 U.S.C. 299a(a)(1), (2), and (8).
Rationale for the Information Collection
The CAHPS Health Plan Database uses data from AHRQ's standardized
CAHPS Health plan survey to provide results to health care purchasers,
consumers, regulators and policy makers across the country. Voluntary
participants include public and private employers, State Medicaid
agencies, Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP), CMS, and
individual health plans.
This research seeks to answer the following questions:
[[Page 63281]]
1. What are the key drivers of member experience in health plans?
2. How do member experiences with health plans vary across the
West, Midwest, South and Northeast regions?
3. What are the highest and lowest scoring measures in specific
areas of care for health plans?
This research has the following goals:
1. To maintain the CAHPS Health Plan database using data from
AHRQ's standardized CAHPS Health Plan survey to provide results to
health care purchasers, consumers, regulators and policy makers across
the country.
2. To offer several products and services, including aggregated
results presented through summary chartbooks, custom analyses, and data
for research purposes.
3. To provide state-level data to CMS for public reporting on
<a href="http://Medicaid.gov">Medicaid.gov</a>and <a href="http://Data.Medicaid.gov">Data.Medicaid.gov</a>that does not display the name of the
health plans.
Key Project Components
Each year State Medicaid agencies, and individual health plans
decide whether to participate in the database and prepare their
materials and dataset for submission to the CAHPS Health Plan Database.
Participating organizations are typically State Medicaid agencies with
multiple health plans. However, individual health plans are also
encouraged to submit their data to the CAHPS Database. The number of
data submissions per registrant varies from participant to participant
and year to year because some participants submit data for multiple
health plans, while others may only submit survey data for one plan.
Each organization that decides to participate in the database must
have their point-of-contact (POC) complete a registration form
providing their contact information for access to the online data
submission system, sign and submit a Data Use Agreement (DUA), and
provide health plan characteristics such as health plan name, product
type, type of population surveyed, health plan state, and plan name to
appear in the reporting of their results.
Each vendor that submits files on behalf of a Medicaid agency or
individual health plan must also complete the registration form in
order to obtain access to the online submission system. The vendor, on
behalf of their client, may also complete additional information about
survey administration, submit a copy of the questionnaire used, and
submit one data file per health plan.
Proposed Revisions
The only change to the data collection is a small increase in
burden, which is based on an increase in data file submissions in 2025,
the most recent reported data available. The individual data submission
process did not have an increased burden but there was an increase in
the total volume of data file submissions.
Method of Collection
To achieve the goals of this project the following activities and
data collections will be implemented:
1. Program Recruitment. Outreach will be conducted with the CAHPS
Health Plan user community (including state agencies, independent
health plans, survey vendors, etc.) to promote the database and its
benefits, and to encourage voluntary contributions of survey data. A
variety of communications will be used (e.g., GovDelivery
announcements, personal email messages, conference and meeting
presentations, etc.) to present the value case for the database and key
dates and details about submitting data.
2. Data Submission Platform. AHRQ's contractor currently provides a
web-based user-friendly submission platform including data submission
specifications; technical assistance and step-by-step instructions for
participation; analysis programs for data cleaning and reporting; and
DUA to protect the confidentiality of the participating organizations
and their data.
3. Submission Notifications and Instructions. Clear instructions
and notifications are of paramount importance for successful submission
of valid data, seamless report dissemination, and streamlined
communication with survey vendors, state programs, or other submitters.
Procedures for data submission through the data submission platform
will include the following:
a. Registration Form--The point-of-contact (POC), which is the
sponsor from Medicaid agencies and health plans, and vendors complete a
number of data submission steps and forms, beginning with the
completion of the online registration form. The purpose of this form is
to collect basic contact information about the organization and
initiate the registration process.
b. Health Plan Information Form--The purpose of this form,
completed by the participating sponsor organization, is to collect
background characteristics of the health plan, such as the name of the
plan, the product type (e.g., HMO, PPO), the population surveyed (e.g.,
adult Medicaid or child Medicaid). Each year, the prior year's plan
data are preloaded in the plan table to lessen burden on the Sponsor.
The Sponsor is responsible for updating the plan table to reflect the
current year's plan information.
c. DUA--The purpose of the DUA, completed by the participating
sponsor organization, is to state how data submitted by health plans
will be used and provide confidentiality assurances.
d. Data Files Submission--POCs upload their data file using the
Health Plan data file specifications to ensure that users submit
standardized and consistent data in the way variables are named, coded,
and formatted. Each submitter will provide a copy of their
questionnaire and the survey data file in the required file format.
Survey data files must conform to the data file layout specifications
provided by the CAHPS Database. Submitters will upload one data file
per health plan. Once a data file is uploaded the file will be checked
automatically to ensure it conforms to the specifications and a data
file status report will be produced and made available to the
submitter. Submitters will review each report and will be expected to
fix any errors in their data file and resubmit them if necessary.
4. Data Cleaning and Preparation. Thorough data cleaning and data
preparation are extremely important in maintaining the integrity of the
data and for analyzing the data in a valid and reliable way. During
data submission, submitters and AHRQ's contractor's database team will
review survey response frequencies to identify out-of-range values,
missing variables, or other data anomalies such as when unexpected
responses are detected (e.g., an unusually large proportion of ``0''
responses on a 0-10 response scale). A submission status report will
inform submitters of such errors so that the file can be corrected and
resubmitted. Once the data submission period closes, SAS[supreg]
software will be used for data cleaning, analysis, and reporting.
5. Data Analysis and Reporting. Using reporting systems, the
contractor will develop reporting products with appropriate data
visualization techniques to present results that are meaningful and
useful.
Estimated Annual Respondent Burden
Exhibit 1 shows the estimated burden hours for the respondent to
participate in the database. The 129 POCs in Exhibit 1 are a
combination of an estimated 114 State Medicaid agencies and individual
health plans (sponsors), and 15 vendor organizations.
[[Page 63282]]
Each sponsor (made up of state Medicaid agencies and health plans)
and vendor will register online for submission. The Registration Form
will require about 5 minutes to complete. Each sponsor will also
complete a Health Plan Information Form which takes on average 30
minutes to complete per health plan with each POC completing the form
for four plans on average. The DUA will be completed by the 114
participating State Medicaid agencies or individual health plans.
Vendors do not sign or submit DUAs. The DUA requires about 5 minutes to
sign and upload. Data File Submissions will be completed by either
sponsors or vendors for the 114 participating submitters and will take
about 1 hour to submit the data for each plan, and each POC will submit
data for four plans on average. The total burden is estimated to be 893
hours annually.
Exhibit 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Number of
Form name Number of responses per Hours per Total burden
respondents respondent response hours
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Registration Form............................... 129 1 5/60 11
Health Plan Information Form.................... 114 4 30/60 228
Data Use Agreement.............................. 114 1 5/60 10
Data Files Submission........................... 114 5.65 1 644
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Total....................................... 471 NA NA 893
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Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annualized cost burden based on the
respondents' time to complete one submission process. The cost burden
is estimated to be $100,115 annually.
Exhibit 2--Estimated Annualized Cost Burden
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Adjusted
Form name Total burden Average hourly hourly wage Total cost
hours wage rate * rate ** burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registration Form............................... 11 \a\ 67.77 $135.54 $1,491
Health Plan Information Form.................... 228 \a\ 67.77 135.54 30,903
Data Use Agreement.............................. 10 \b\ 129.63 259.26 2,593
Data Files Submission........................... 644 \c\ 50.56 101.12 65,128
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Total....................................... 893 NA NA 100,115
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* National Compensation Survey: Occupational wages in the United States May 2025, ``U.S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics.''
** The Adjusted Hourly Rate was estimated at 200% of the hourly wage.
\a\ Based on the mean hourly wage for Medical and Health Services Managers (11-9111).
\b\ Based on the mean hourly wage for Chief Executives (11-1011).
\c\ Based on the mean hourly wages for Computer Programmers (15-1251).
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: September 29, 2026.
Jeffrey Toven,
Executive Officer.
[FR Doc. 2026-20357 Filed 10-2-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P
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