The Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services collects quality performance measures in order to
hold the Medicare managed care industry accountable for the care
being delivered, to enable quality improvement, and to provide
quality information to Medicare beneficiaries in order to promote
an informed choice. It is critical to CMS's mission that we collect
and disseminate information that can be used to help beneficiaries
choose among health plans, contribute to improved quality of care
through identification of improvement opportunities, and assist CMS
in carrying out its oversight and purchasing
responsibilities.
As demonstrated in the
previously stated burden estimate calculations, changes to burden
are the result of growth of Medicare Advantage program, including
increases in enrollment, the number of contracts, and contract
size, rather than changes to the HOS survey instrument proposed
herein. On average, the burden to Medicare beneficiaries to
complete a HOS or HOS-M survey has not changed; the survey burden
remains at .33 hour. However, the number of MAOs required to report
HOS Baseline has increased slightly, by 25 contracts, and the
number of MAOs that remain in the MA program and are required to
report HOS Follow-Up has increased significantly, by 122 contracts.
As a result, the number of respondents has gone up by approximately
21,000 respondents for Baseline and 81,984 respondents for
Follow-up, increasing HOS survey burden by approximately 33,985
hours. The burden to PACE was recalculated using a sample size
based on actual enrollment. Although the number of participating
PACE organizations has increased 50%, by 29 contracts, the revised
total survey burden decreased by approximately 9,618 hours. Thus,
the total survey burden for HOS and HOS-M combined increased
approximately 24,367 hours. For a crosswalk of all survey
instrument changes that includes new questions being added and
current questions being removed or revised, see Attachment A.
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.