HHS is advised that the next approval of this collection must be obtained through regular PRA notice and comment procedures. Additionally, OMB notes that all guidances mentioned in the supporting documentation for this ICR (including the guidance described at the top of page 7 of the Supporting Statement, and the guidance mentioned on the top of page two of the crosswalk document) are covered by the PRA and must be submitted for OMB review as revisions to this Control Number under normal clearance procedures before publication.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
06/30/2011
6 Months From Approved
03/31/2011
71,330
0
79,104
2,004,599
0
1,792,440
0
0
0
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) and implementing regulations at 45 CFR Part 149, employment-based plans that offer health coverage to early retirees and their spouses, surviving spouses, and dependents are eligible to receive tax-free reimbursement for a portion of the costs of health benefits provided to such individuals. To qualify, a plan sponsor must submit a complete application to HHS, and must submit reimbursement requests that consist of a list of individuals for whom reimbursement is sought, and documentation of the costs of health benefits provided.
The original PRA package for the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) was approved in May 2010 on an emergency basis, and was scheduled to expire November 30, 2010. The original, approved PRA package was developed with certain assumptions about how the program would operate. However, as this program quickly developed, unforeseen circumstances dictated that HHS needed to collect, by October 1, 2010, certain data that it did not foresee having to collect, or which HHS needed to collect in a manner not envisioned at the time the original package was developed. Specifically, the Administration wanted ERRP plan sponsors to be able to begin submitting, on October 1, 2010, lists of early retirees for whom the sponsors wish to submit with their first reimbursement request under the program, as well as summary claims data upon which the reimbursement requests would be based. However, the original, approved PRA package did not specify the necessary data elements that had subsequently been developed for early retiree lists, nor did it envision the collection of summary claims data, or the required elements to collect with respect to such data, because these details were not and could not have been known at the time the original package was approved. Therefore, in order to be able to meet the Administration's objectives specified above, we requested, and OMB granted emergency approval of, revisions to OMB 0938-1087. That approval, granted September 30, 2010, expires March 31, 2011.
Need for Further Revisions to 0938-1087
Leadership now expects HHS to begin collecting detailed claims data (in addition to Early Retiree Lists and summary claims data, which are already being collected) in February 2011. It is critical to do so, to help ensure that sponsors are submitting claims only for items and services for which costs are reimbursable under ERRP, and to help identify instances where claims for ineligible items and services are being submitted. By no later than December 14, 2010, HHS expects to complete the time-consuming task of defining the required data elements to collect, and the required format, for the detailed claims data. As soon as possible after doing so, HHS must i educate the ERRP community on the data elements and format, so that sponsors will have sufficient time to modify their existing systems, or build the necessary systems, in time to electronically submit the detailed claims data in February. Additionally, HHS needs to issue guidance on how plan sponsors must submit program-related appeals, and disclose previously submitted data inaccuracies, which sponsors may, and must, do, respectively, pursuant to the ERRP regulation. HHS has draft guidance it wishes to publish setting forth the data elements sponsors must submit when requesting such appeals and making such disclosures. However, the approved PRA package does not include all these data elements.
Therefore, HHS expects to deliver to OMB a revised PRA package 0938-1087 on December 14 or 15, 2010. For the reasons stated above, HHS requests emergency clearance of the revisions to 0938-1087, by no later than December 23, 2010.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Data Inaccuracies (Private)