CMS has fielded the MA (Consumer
Assessment of Health Care Providers and Systems) CAHPS Survey
annually since 1998, the Medicare FFS CAHPS Survey annually since
2000, and the MA DP and Stand Alone PDP CAHPS survey annually since
2006. The Medicare CAHPS is a national survey of health and
prescription drug plans conducted at the contract level for MA, MA
PD and Stand Alone PDP plans and at the state level for Medicare
fee-for-service. Medicare CAHPS provides data to permit preparation
of plan performance measures to assist Medicare beneficiaries in
their selection of a health and/or prescription drug plan and help
policymakers and others assist the Medicare program and Medicare
plans design and monitor patient-centered quality improvement
initiatives. The 2009 Call letter for MA and MA PD plans requires
these plans to contract with private vendors from a list selected
by CMS to conduct the 2011 Medicare CAHPS survey for their plan at
the contract level and provide the collected data to CMS for
analyses and preparation of CAHPS measures for use in consumer and
plan reports and for quality improvement purposes for MA, MA PD,
and Stand Alone PDP plans. CMS will continue to collect the
Medicare FFS CAHPS data from surveys at the state and some
sub-state levels. This revision to a currently approved collection
is to add questions focusing on care coordination. The Medicare
CAHPS survey has taken the OMB No. 0935-0732.
On average, the burden to
Medicare beneficiaries has not changed to complete a CAHPS survey:
MA burden is 0.4 hour and the stand-alone PDP and FFS survey
burdens are 0.25 and 0.3 hours, respectively. The number of
respondents has gone up by approximately 201,450 respondents
(mostly due to increases in the FFS sample to support refined
comparisons with MA), and the number of contracts has gone down by
approximately 10, so the total survey burden has increased by
approximately 60,645 hours. The burden to MA and PDP contracts is
54 hours each, or a total of 32,346 hours across the 599 plans;
this is a decrease of approximately 540 hours.
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.
Form CMS-R-246 Medicare Advantage Surveys
Response to Comments to OMB MCAHPS.DOC
Medicare Advantage Surveys