Proposed Implementation of Section 6053(b) of the Deficit Reduction Act for Fiscal Year 2008 FMAP, 3391-3395 [E7-1174]
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[FR Doc. E7–1094 Filed 1–24–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
Proposed Implementation of Section
6053(b) of the Deficit Reduction Act for
Fiscal Year 2008 FMAP
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Office of the Secretary, HHS.
Notice with comment period.
SUMMARY: This notice with comment
period describes the procedure for
implementing Section 6053(b) of the
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Public
Law 109–171 for fiscal year 2008.
Section 6053(b) of the Deficit Reduction
Act provides for a modification of the
Federal Medical Assistance Percentages
for any state which has a significant
number of evacuees from Hurricane
Katrina.
Comment Date: To be assured
consideration, comment must be
received at the address provided below,
no later than 5 p.m. on February 26,
2007.
DATES:
Because of staff and
resource limitations, we can only accept
comments by regular mail. You may
mail written comments (one original
and one copy) to the following address
only: Department of Health and Human
Services, Room 447D, Attention: FMAP
Proposed Rule, 200 Independence Ave.,
SW., Washington, DC 20201.
Submitting Comments: We welcome
comments from the public on all issues
set forth in this rule with comment
period to assist us in fully considering
issues and developing policies. Please
provide a reference to the section on
which you choose to comment.
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ADDRESSES:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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A. Background: Federal Medical
Assistance Percentages
Federal Medical Assistance
Percentages are used to determine the
amount of Federal matching for state
expenditures for assistance payments
for certain social services such as
Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) Contingency Funds,
matching funds for the Child Care and
Development Fund, Title IV–E Foster
Care Maintenance payments, Adoption
Assistance payments, and state medical
and medical insurance expenditures for
Medicaid and the State Children’s
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
Sections 1905(b) and 1101(a)(8)(B) of
the Social Security Act require the
Secretary of Health and Human Services
to publish the Federal Medical
Assistance Percentages each year. The
Secretary is to calculate the percentages,
using formulas in sections 1905(b) and
1101(a)(8)(B), from the Department of
Commerce’s statistics of average income
per person in each state and for the
Nation as a whole. The percentages are
within the upper and lower limits given
in section 1905(b) of the Act. The
percentages to be applied to the District
of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and
the Northern Mariana Islands are
specified in statute, and thus are not
based on the statutory formula that
determines the percentages for the 50
states. The ‘‘Federal Medical Assistance
Percentages’’ are for Medicaid.
Section 1905(b) of the Social Security
Act specifies the formula for calculating
Federal Medical Assistance Percentages
as follows:
‘‘Federal medical assistance
percentage’’ for any state shall be 100
per centum less the state percentage;
and the state percentage shall be that
percentage which bears the same ratio to
45 per centum as the square of the per
capita income of such state bears to the
square of the per capita income of the
continental United States (including
Alaska) and Hawaii; except that (1) the
Federal medical assistance percentage
shall in no case be less than 50 per
centum or more than 83 per centum, (2)
the Federal medical assistance
percentage for Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana
Islands, and American Samoa shall be
50 per centum.
Section 4725 of the Balanced Budget
Act of 1997 amended section 1905(b) to
provide that the Federal Medical
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Pollutant
Nutrient.
Assistance Percentage for the District of
Columbia for purposes of Title XIX and
for the purposes of calculating the
Enhanced Federal Medical Assistance
Percentage under Title XXI shall be 70
percent. For the District of Columbia,
we note under the table of Federal
Medical Assistance Percentages the rate
that applies in certain other programs
calculated using the formula otherwise
applicable, and the rate that applies in
certain other programs pursuant to
section 1118 of the Social Security Act.
Section 2105(b) of the Social Security
Act specifies the formula for calculating
the Enhanced Federal Medical
Assistance Percentages as follows:
The ‘‘enhanced FMAP,’’ for a state for
a fiscal year, is equal to the Federal
medical assistance percentage (as
defined in the first sentence of section
1905(b)) for the state increased by a
number of percentage points equal to 30
percent of the number of percentage
points by which (1) such Federal
medical assistance percentage for the
state, is less than (2) 100 percent; but in
no case shall the enhanced FMAP for a
state exceed 85 percent.
The ‘‘Enhanced Federal Medical
Assistance Percentages’’ are for use in
the State Children’s Health Insurance
Program under Title XXI, and in the
Medicaid program for certain children
for expenditures for medical assistance
described in sections 1905(u)(2) and
1905(u)(3) of the Social Security Act.
On November 30, 2006, at 71 FR
69209, we published the FMAP and
Enhanced FMAP rates for each state for
October 1, 2007 through September 30,
2008 (fiscal year 2008). This notice
describes the procedure we would use
to modify the fiscal year 2008 FMAP
rates to comply with the requirements of
section 6053(b) of the DRA, which we
discuss more fully below.
B. Section 6053(b) of the Deficit
Reduction Act
Section 6053(b) of the Deficit
Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 requires
that calculations used in computing the
FMAPs disregard evacuees and any
income attributable to them who were
evacuated to and live in a state, other
than their state of residence, as of
October 1, 2005 as a result of Hurricane
Katrina. The DRA defines ‘‘evacuee’’ as
‘‘an affected individual who has been
displaced to another state’’ (Sec
6201(b)(3)). This provision applies to
any state that the Secretary of HHS
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determines has a significant number of
Katrina evacuees.
The modification of the Federal
Medical Assistance Percentages and the
Enhanced Federal Medical Assistance
Percentages under the Deficit Reduction
Act affect only medical expenditure
payments under Title XIX and
expenditure payments for the State
Children’s Health Insurance Program
under Title XXI. The Department
believes that the percentages in this rule
do not apply to payments under Title IV
of the Social Security Act. In addition,
the Title XIX statute provides separately
for Federal matching of administrative
costs, which is not affected by the
subject Deficit Reduction Act provision.
Section 6053(b) applies to
calculations for FMAPs for any year
after 2006. The underlying data that
serve as the basis for the FMAP
calculations are produced by the
Department of Commerce’s Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA). Section
1101(a)(8)(B) requires FMAP
calculations to be determined using data
from the Department of Commerce.
Therefore, the standard practice in the
calculation of the FMAPs is to utilize
the most up-to-date BEA state per capita
income data. The Fiscal Year 2008
FMAPs, which were published on
November 30, 2006 use the state per
capita income estimates for 2003–2005.
The first year that the relevant data—
state per capita personal income
estimates—would show any impact
related to Hurricane Katrina is 2005,
since Hurricane Katrina occurred in
August 2005. Therefore, this rule
proposes to implement Section 6053 (b)
of the DRA starting with the Fiscal Year
2008 FMAPs, since the 2008 FMAP
calculation will be the first year that
include 2005 data.
We believe the likely Congressional
intent of this provision was to assist any
state that took in a large number of
Katrina evacuees. The statute instructs
HHS to remove Katrina evacuees and
their income from the FMAP calculation
for any such state. This adjustment
would protect such a state from an
adverse fluctuation in its FMAP based
on Katrina evacuees. This adjustment
would also, however, remove any
positive fluctuation in the FMAP based
on Katrina evacuees. It is not clear that
this latter impact was intended by
Congress.
We believe that, because Katrina
evacuees are likely to have lower
income than the general population of
the states to which they are evacuated,
accurate data would probably result in
no adverse fluctuation in FMAP for any
state using the standard calculation
methodology. Instead, there would
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probably be a positive fluctuation under
the standard calculation that would be
eliminated by the statutory adjustment.
In other words, the statutory adjustment
could result in that state having a higher
per capita income (and lower FMAP)
than if the adjustment was not made.
In many instances, evacuees either
had lower incomes before or lost their
employment and means of support after
Katrina. Evacuees’ per capita income,
therefore, would be less than the per
capita income of the general population
of the state(s) to which they were
evacuated. Eliminating persons of lower
per capita income from any affected
state would raise overall state per capita
income, thus lowering its respective
Federal FMAP percentage.
Moreover, the standard methodology
used by BEA to calculate per capita
income does not permit the attribution
of all income sources to Katrina
evacuees. That is, BEA does not possess
the data necessary to count all sources
of Katrina evacuees’ income (see
detailed discussion below), and as a
result, we believe our approach offers
the best possible calculation given the
limited data available.
We propose in this rule a
methodology for the adjustment that
would take advantage of the way in
which state population is usually
calculated to comply with our
understanding of Congressional intent
in the first year, and raise the FMAP
slightly for any affected state. But we are
concerned that this methodology would
have the expected effect of lowering the
FMAP in future years compared to the
calculation methodology.
We are also concerned that it will be
more difficult to accurately disregard
evacuee population and income in
future years. It will also become
increasingly difficult to isolate Katrina
evacuees’ income to adjust per capita
state income calculations as BEA only
captures aggregate state income, not
evacuees’ income.
C. Calculation of the Federal Medical
Assistance Percentage
The Federal Medical Assistance
Percentage (FMAP) is based on the
percentage of low-income persons
residing in a given state. By statute, it
is no lower than 50% and no higher
than 83%. The key variable in
calculating the FMAP is the estimate of
state per capita personal income. The
state per capita income estimates are
then plugged into the statutory FMAP
formula. There are two components to
the state per capita personal income
estimates. The denominator is the
Annual Population Estimate; the
numerator is State Personal Income.
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1. Modification to Population Estimate
The first adjustment that must take
place under Section 6053(b) of the DRA
is to the state population estimate. The
state population estimate must be
adjusted by removing all Katrina
evacuees in each state that were
evacuated across state lines.
Because the state population
estimates used in the 2005 Per Capita
Personal Income estimates are from July
1, 2005, which is prior to Hurricane
Katrina, these Katrina evacuees do not
appear in the data that is the basis for
the state population estimates for any
state covered by this provision. Thus,
while Section 6053(b) of the DRA
requires it, no adjustment to this data is
required to disregard Katrina evacuees.
To ensure compliance with the
statutory requirement to disregard
Katrina evacuees, however, we explored
the possibility of adjusting the
population estimates to reflect the
influx of evacuees, and then
disregarding the actual number of
Katrina evacuees. For this purpose, we
used BEA estimates of the number of
Katrina evacuees relocated to the
various states based on FEMA data. We
then used BEA’s estimates of Katrina
evacuees relocated to each state to
adjust upward the population of those
states to account for the influx of
evacuees. We then considered whether
the influx of evacuees may have
displaced other individuals from the
population of the affected state(s), but
we found no evidence to support an
adjustment based on this possibility.
Following the requirements of Section
6053(b), we then would subtract these
evacuees from their respective states to
arrive at a state population prior to the
effects of Hurricane Katrina. The
resulting calculations arrive at the July
1, 2005 population figures reported by
the Bureau of the Census for the time
period just prior to Hurricane Katrina.
This analysis confirmed that no
adjustment is required to the population
estimate used in the calculation of the
state per capita personal income for
2005 to disregard Katrina evacuees.
2. Modification to State Personal
Income Estimate
The second adjustment that must take
place under Section 6053(b) of the DRA
is to state personal income. State
personal income must be adjusted by
removing all income that is attributed to
Katrina evacuees, and HHS has
consulted with BEA at length on how to
do so.
According to standard BEA
methodology, state personal income
consists of the sum of wages and
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salaries, supplements to wages and
salaries, proprietor’s income, rental
income, personal dividends, personal
interest income, and transfer receipts
less contributions for government social
insurance. State personal income is the
income that is received by, or on behalf
of, all the persons living in a state. In
addition, source data for wages and
salaries, supplements to wages and
salaries, and contributions for
government social insurance (which are
compiled on a place of work basis) are
adjusted for persons who work in one
state and live in another.
BEA published these data in ‘‘State
Personal Income for the Fourth Quarter
of 2005 and Per Capita Income for
2005,’’ which appeared in the April
2006 Survey of Current Business, and
subsequently revised in the October
2006 Survey of Current Business. In
Table D of the April 2006 article, BEA
gives the adjustments it made to account
for some of the economic effects of
Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma
that are not reflected in the source data
used to estimate state personal income
for 2005. We will use these data as the
basis for making the adjustments to the
FMAPs required by the Deficit
Reduction Act.
Implementing Section 6053(b) is
complex because the data related to
personal income are not detailed
enough to fully conform to all of the
provision’s requirements. For example,
BEA cannot isolate the fraction of a
state’s total wages and salaries that were
paid to Katrina evacuees who moved
there from another state. Therefore, HHS
cannot remove income paid to Katrina
evacuees for wages and salaries.
Further, HHS can only estimate some
of the ‘‘interstate income’’ attributable to
Katrina evacuees. For purposes of this
rule, interstate income is personal
income that was paid to Katrina
evacuees in a different state than the
state they were living in before
Hurricane Katrina. Included in our
estimate of interstate income are
governmental transfer receipts that were
paid to evacuees who may have moved
across state lines. Governmental transfer
receipts consist of all transfer payments,
such as TANF or Medicaid, as well as
transfers from business, such as net
insurance settlements. Transfers such as
Medicare or Medicaid are government
payments made directly or through
intermediaries to vendors for the care
provided to individuals.
Below we discuss three types of
transfer receipt adjustments included in
Table D: FEMA disaster assistance,
interstate population dispersal, and net
insurance settlements.
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a. FEMA Disaster Assistance
FEMA disaster assistance is one type
of transfer payment included in
personal income. For FEMA disaster
assistance, payments are recorded at the
location where the recipients are
residing at the time of payment.
Therefore, if the evacuees receiving
FEMA disaster assistance were
evacuated to another state, the FEMA
disaster assistance payment would be
counted as income in the state that they
were evacuated to.
However, we can not know what
proportion of the FEMA disaster
assistance payments were made to
interstate evacuees and what proportion
were made to permanent residents of
the states in question. For Texas, it is
likely that the majority of the FEMA
disaster assistance payments were made
to interstate evacuees. For Alabama, the
FEMA disaster assistance payments
were likely made to both Alabama
residents as well as interstate evacuees.
Although we cannot determine the
extent to which the FEMA disaster
assistance payments represent income
to interstate evacuees as opposed to
permanent residents, we propose to
include the entire FEMA disaster
assistance adjustment in the estimate of
interstate income. We make this
decision because we believe it is best to
include as much countable income of
the evacuees as possible in order to
comply with the intent of the statute,
especially given that we can not count
all sources of income for the evacuees.
b. Interstate Population Dispersal
The interstate population dispersal
adjustment is BEA’s estimate of
governmental transfer receipts that were
paid to Hurricane Katrina evacuees
while they were living in the states to
which they had been evacuated. The
transfer receipts included in the
interstate population dispersal
adjustment include payments such as
Medicaid or TANF, as listed above. We
propose to include the interstate
population dispersal adjustment in our
estimate of interstate income.
According to Table D, some states
gained income due to this adjustment
and some states lost income. A positive
interstate population dispersal
adjustment, such as the adjustment for
Alabama, means that the state was
estimated to receive an increase in
transfer income because evacuees
moved into that state from another state,
and received transfer payments in their
new state. A negative interstate
population dispersal adjustment, such
as the adjustment for Louisiana, means
that the state was estimated to receive
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a decrease in transfer income because
evacuees moved out of that state to
another state, and received transfer
payments in their new state.
BEA estimates these interstate
population dispersal adjustments based
on the evacuee population that moved
across state lines after the hurricane,
and the average transfer payment per
evacuee. The evacuee population is
based on the FEMA Current Location
Report.
c. Net Insurance Settlements
Net insurance settlements are income
derived from insurance payments made
based on claims for lost or damaged
property. For net insurance settlements,
BEA records the payments as income in
the state where the homes were
destroyed.
Therefore, even if an evacuee received
an insurance payment in a different
state from where their property was
damaged, it would be recorded as
income in the state where the damage
occurred. If an individual was
evacuated from Louisiana to Texas
because his or her home was destroyed
in the hurricane, and he or she received
an insurance payment while living in
Texas, BEA would record this payment
as income in the State of Louisiana, not
the State of Texas.
Therefore, we propose not to include
the net insurance settlements
adjustment in our estimate of interstate
income, because the income has already
been re-allocated to the state where the
evacuees lived before Hurricane Katrina.
The methodology described above
details the FMAP adjustments that were
made to accommodate the requirements
of Section 6053(b) with the available
data. The calculations this year result in
a positive impact on any affected state,
i.e., increasing FMAPs. As noted above,
it is unclear what effect Section 6053 (b)
will have on future years should this
provision carry forward beyond fiscal
year 2008. It is possible that any affected
state will receive lower FMAP rates
when updated data become available.
D. Affected States
According to Section 6053(b), the
Secretary of HHS must apply this
provision to any state that the Secretary
determines has a significant number of
Katrina evacuees. However, the statute
provides HHS no guidance on how to
determine what number of evacuees
constitutes a ‘‘significant number.’’ As a
result, HHS attempted to provide an
objective means to determine a
‘‘significant number’’ of evacuees.
HHS has chosen to determine
significance by calculating the numbers
of evacuees beyond two standard
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deviations from the mean of all states’
number of evacuees. Measures of
significance generally involve how
observations vary in their distance from
the average of all observations in their
particular group. In this case, the
observations are the number of evacuees
relocated to each of the respective
states. A measure used frequently to
determine significance is the standard
deviation from the mean or average. We
propose to use as the measure of a
significantly affected state those that
incurred an influx of evacuees greater
than twice the standard deviation from
the mean of all states.
Using the BEA estimates for the
number of evacuees relocated to each
state (except as noted below for
Louisiana) we calculated an average
influx of evacuees for all states of 7,159.
The distribution of evacuees into all
states around this average produces a
standard deviation of 22,375. Therefore,
we propose to apply the provisions of
Section 6053(b) to any state with an
influx of evacuees greater than 51,909
(the mean plus two standard
deviations). This methodology specifies
only Texas, with 154,018 evacuees,
having such a significant influx of
evacuees.
Therefore, we propose to apply
Section 6053(b) to Texas. Because the
DRA defines ‘‘evacuee’’ as ‘‘an affected
individual who has been displaced to
another state’’ (section 6201 (b)(3)), we
propose that Louisiana not be
considered an affected state. Although
there were intra-state evacuations
within Louisiana, the provision is
intended to apply only to any state that
took in a significant number of evacuees
from another state.
BEA has made available on its Web
site a version of Table D that includes
adjustments for all states. The Web site
address is: https://www.bea.gov/bea/
regional/articles.cfm?section=articles
and the section is: State Personal
Income: Fourth Quarter of 2005 and Per
Capita Personal Income for 2005,
Additional Tables.
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E. Projected Effect of the Provision
Using the personal income estimates
released by BEA, we have calculated
FMAPs for 2008 and the revised FMAPs
applying the methodology outlined
above. The table below presents the
2008 FMAPs and the revised 2008
FMAPs with the proposed adjustment,
and the 2008 EFMAPs and the revised
2008 EFMAPs.
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and become a functioning part of that
state’s economy.
(2) A second alternative approach is
that individuals would be considered to
FMAP ............
60.53
60.56 be Hurricane Katrina evacuees while
EFMAP .........
72.37
72.39
receiving FEMA Hurricane Katrina
assistance. FEMA assistance is an
As seen in the tables above, applying
available data source to identify the
the proposed adjustment increases the
individuals. Receipt of FEMA assistance
FMAP and EFMAP for Texas.
is an indication that individuals are not
fully integrated into the economy of a
F. Time Frame for the Adjustment
new state, and expect to return to homes
The language of Section 6053(b) does
that were destroyed by Hurricane
not provide for a sunset of the FMAP
Katrina.
adjustments. Therefore, the implication
(3) The third alternative approach
is that such adjustments would be made
would be to consider individuals to be
in perpetuity. Yet it seems unreasonable
Hurricane Katrina evacuees while
to assume that individuals who
reliable data remains available and
continue to reside in a state other than
sufficient to identify evacuees and their
those directly impacted by Katrina
income in order to carry out the
would still be considered evacuees
provisions of the DRA. The statute does
forever, even after they have established not authorize this Department to
residency and obtained employment in
construct or develop its own data
their new state.
sources. Thus, we do not believe that
As previously mentioned, it is
Congress intended to require this
possible that this provision will have a
adjustment to be made after reliable data
negative impact on a qualifying state’s
is no longer available to support the
FMAP in future years. The magnitude of adjustment.
this negative impact is not known at this
We invite comments on the adoption
time.
for the definition of evacuee discussed
Additionally, it is technically difficult above, or an alternate approach, to
to perform the calculations for this
ensure that the effect of section 6053(b)
provision because of numerous data
of the DRA is limited to addressing
limitations. Even under the calculation
sudden population influxes directly
for FY 08, BEA was unable to
resulting from Hurricane Katrina.
completely account for all sources of
G. Regulatory Impact Statement
income for evacuees. It is likely that
BEA will continue to encounter these
Executive Order 12866 (as amended
difficulties and produce limited income by Executive Order 13258, which
estimates in the future. Furthermore,
merely reassigns responsibility of
BEA may also encounter difficulties in
duties) directs agencies to assess all
tracking evacuees, as it is uncertain
costs and benefits of available regulatory
alternatives and, if regulation is
whether such data will be available.
For the above reasons, we are
necessary, to select regulatory
proposing to define evacuees narrowly
approaches that maximize net benefits
to ensure that an adjustment is made
(including potential economic,
only to the extent warranted to address
environmental, public health and safety
the sudden influx directly resulting
effects, distributive impacts, and
from Hurricane Katrina, and not
equity). The Regulatory Flexibility Act
permanent changes in population level
(RFA) requires agencies to analyze
for host states. While we believe the
options for regulatory relief of small
most straightforward definition of an
businesses. For purposes of the RFA,
evacuee would be to consider
small entities include small businesses,
individuals to be evacuees fro a timenonprofit organizations, and
limited period following displacement
government agencies. Section 202 of the
to another state, we have listed three
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
approaches to define evacuees, and are
(Pub. L. 104–4) also requires that
soliciting public comment on the issue.
agencies assess anticipated costs and
(1) The first alternative would
benefits before issuing any rule whose
establish a bright line test as to how
mandates require spending in any one
long an individual would be considered year of $100 million in 1995 dollars,
an evacuee. Under this alternative,
updated annually for inflation. That
individuals would be considered to be
threshold level is currently
Hurricane Katrina evacuees for up to 18 approximately $120 million. Executive
months following displacement to
Order 13132 establishes certain
another state. This represents a
requirements that an agency must meet
substantial time frame during which the when it promulgates a final rule that
individual would likely have
imposes substantial direct requirement
established residency in another state
costs on state and local governments,
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proposed
adjustment
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preempts state law, or otherwise has
Federalism implications.
This rule announces the provisions of
section 6053(b) of the Deficit Reduction
Act of 2005. We do not estimate this
regulation will have any significant
effect on the economy. Nevertheless, we
estimate the impact of the provision,
once implemented, to be minimal. Our
analysis suggests that the modification
to the FMAPs will only affect Texas.
The effect will likely be a minimal
decrease in State Medicaid and SCHIP
spending and a corresponding minimal
increase in federal Medicaid and SCHIP
spending.
In addition, the provisions only
directly affect states. Therefore, there is
no need to perform a regulatory
flexibility analysis in accordance with
section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility
Act.
H. Summary
We propose to adjust the fiscal year
2008 FMAP rate only for the State of
Texas, by reducing the income estimates
used in the FMAP calculation through
the application of adjustments to reflect
interstate population dispersal income
and FEMA disaster assistance income
for evacuees. Because this is the only
income that can be attributed to Katrina
evacuees based on BEA data, this
income will be subtracted from the 2005
state personal income as published by
BEA in October 2006 to obtain a new
state personal income for Texas. This
state personal income will be divided by
the state population as of July 2005 to
get a revised per capita personal income
for each state. This revised 2005 per
capita personal income will replace the
2005 per capita personal income in
calculating the 2008 FMAPs.
Effective Dates: The percentages listed
will be effective for each of the four (4)
quarter-year periods in the period
beginning October 1, 2007 and ending
September 30, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas Musco or Robert Stewart, Office
of Health Policy, Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Planning and Evaluation,
Room 447D—Hubert H. Humphrey
Building, 200 Independence Avenue,
SW., Washington, DC 20201, (202) 690–
6870.
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with NOTICES
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Program Nos. 93.778: Medical Assistance
Program; 93.767: State Children’s Health
Insurance Program)
Dated: January 19, 2007.
Michael O. Leavitt,
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
[FR Doc. E7–1174 Filed 1–24–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–31–P
VerDate Aug<31>2005
14:58 Jan 24, 2007
Jkt 211001
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Meeting of the Presidential Advisory
Council on HIV/AIDS
Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of the Secretary,
Office of Public Health and Science.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
As stipulated by the Federal
Advisory Committee Act, the
Department of Health and Human
Services (DHHS) is hereby giving notice
that the Presidential Advisory Council
on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) will hold a
meeting. This meeting is open to the
public. A description of the Council’s
functions is included with this notice.
DATES: February 27, 2007, 8 a.m. to 5
p.m., and February 28, 2007, 8 a.m. to
4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: Hubert H. Humphrey
Building, 200 Independence Ave., SW.,
Room 705A, Washington, DC 20201.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dana Ceasar, Program Assistant,
Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/
AIDS, Department of Health and Human
Services, Hubert H. Humphrey Building,
200 Independence Avenue, SW., Room
733E, Washington, DC 20201; (202)
690–2470 or visit the Council’s Web site
at https://www.pacha.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: PACHA
was established by Executive Order
12963, dated June 14, 1995, as amended
by Executive Order 13009, dated June
14, 1996. The Council was established
to provide advice, information, and
recommendations to the Secretary
regarding programs and policies
intended to (a) promote effective
prevention of HIV disease, (b) advance
research on HIV and AIDS, and (c)
promote quality services to persons
living with HIV disease and AIDS.
PACHA was established to serve solely
as an advisory body to the Secretary of
Health and Human Services. The
Council is composed of not more than
21 members. Council membership is
determined by the Secretary from
individuals who are considered
authorities with particular expertise in,
or knowledge of, matters concerning
HIV/AIDS.
The agenda for this Council meeting
includes the following topics: HIV/AIDS
prevention, treatment and care issues,
both domestically and internationally.
Members of the public will have the
opportunity to provide comments at the
meeting. Public comment will be
limited to three (3) minutes per speaker.
Public attendance is limited to space
available and pre-registration is required
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
3395
for both attendance and public
comment. Any individual who wishes
to participate should register at https://
www.pacha.gov. Individuals who plan
to attend and need special assistance,
such as sign language interpretation or
other reasonable accommodations,
should indicate in the comment section
when registering.
Dated: January 16, 2007.
Anand K. Parekh,
Acting Executive Director, Presidential
Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.
[FR Doc. E7–1125 Filed 1–24–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150–43–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health; Report on Residual
Radioactive and Beryllium
Contamination at Atomic Weapons
Employer Facilities and Beryllium
Vendor Facilities
National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH), Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS).
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Notice.
SUMMARY: The Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) gives notice as
required by the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005
(Pub. L. 108–375) of the release of a
report on residual contamination of
facilities under the Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation
Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA), 42
U.S.C. 7384 et seq. The report is below.
The report and appendices are also
available at: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/
ocas.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Larry Elliott, Director, Office of
Compensation Analysis and Support,
National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia
Parkway, MS C–46, Cincinnati, OH
45226, Telephone 513–533–6800 (this is
not a toll-free number). Information
requests can also be submitted by e-mail
to OCAS@CDC.GOV.
John Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health.
Report on Residual Radioactive and
Beryllium Contamination at Atomic
Weapons Employer Facilities and
Beryllium Vendor Facilities
Prepared by: National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health
John Howard, M.D., Director, December 2006
E:\FR\FM\25JAN1.SGM
25JAN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 16 (Thursday, January 25, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3391-3395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-1174]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
Proposed Implementation of Section 6053(b) of the Deficit
Reduction Act for Fiscal Year 2008 FMAP
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.
ACTION: Notice with comment period.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice with comment period describes the procedure for
implementing Section 6053(b) of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005,
Public Law 109-171 for fiscal year 2008. Section 6053(b) of the Deficit
Reduction Act provides for a modification of the Federal Medical
Assistance Percentages for any state which has a significant number of
evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.
DATES: Comment Date: To be assured consideration, comment must be
received at the address provided below, no later than 5 p.m. on
February 26, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Because of staff and resource limitations, we can only
accept comments by regular mail. You may mail written comments (one
original and one copy) to the following address only: Department of
Health and Human Services, Room 447D, Attention: FMAP Proposed Rule,
200 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20201.
Submitting Comments: We welcome comments from the public on all
issues set forth in this rule with comment period to assist us in fully
considering issues and developing policies. Please provide a reference
to the section on which you choose to comment.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background: Federal Medical Assistance Percentages
Federal Medical Assistance Percentages are used to determine the
amount of Federal matching for state expenditures for assistance
payments for certain social services such as Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) Contingency Funds, matching funds for the Child
Care and Development Fund, Title IV-E Foster Care Maintenance payments,
Adoption Assistance payments, and state medical and medical insurance
expenditures for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP).
Sections 1905(b) and 1101(a)(8)(B) of the Social Security Act
require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publish the
Federal Medical Assistance Percentages each year. The Secretary is to
calculate the percentages, using formulas in sections 1905(b) and
1101(a)(8)(B), from the Department of Commerce's statistics of average
income per person in each state and for the Nation as a whole. The
percentages are within the upper and lower limits given in section
1905(b) of the Act. The percentages to be applied to the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and
the Northern Mariana Islands are specified in statute, and thus are not
based on the statutory formula that determines the percentages for the
50 states. The ``Federal Medical Assistance Percentages'' are for
Medicaid.
Section 1905(b) of the Social Security Act specifies the formula
for calculating Federal Medical Assistance Percentages as follows:
``Federal medical assistance percentage'' for any state shall be
100 per centum less the state percentage; and the state percentage
shall be that percentage which bears the same ratio to 45 per centum as
the square of the per capita income of such state bears to the square
of the per capita income of the continental United States (including
Alaska) and Hawaii; except that (1) the Federal medical assistance
percentage shall in no case be less than 50 per centum or more than 83
per centum, (2) the Federal medical assistance percentage for Puerto
Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and
American Samoa shall be 50 per centum.
Section 4725 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 amended section
1905(b) to provide that the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage for
the District of Columbia for purposes of Title XIX and for the purposes
of calculating the Enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage under
Title XXI shall be 70 percent. For the District of Columbia, we note
under the table of Federal Medical Assistance Percentages the rate that
applies in certain other programs calculated using the formula
otherwise applicable, and the rate that applies in certain other
programs pursuant to section 1118 of the Social Security Act. Section
2105(b) of the Social Security Act specifies the formula for
calculating the Enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentages as
follows:
The ``enhanced FMAP,'' for a state for a fiscal year, is equal to
the Federal medical assistance percentage (as defined in the first
sentence of section 1905(b)) for the state increased by a number of
percentage points equal to 30 percent of the number of percentage
points by which (1) such Federal medical assistance percentage for the
state, is less than (2) 100 percent; but in no case shall the enhanced
FMAP for a state exceed 85 percent.
The ``Enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentages'' are for use
in the State Children's Health Insurance Program under Title XXI, and
in the Medicaid program for certain children for expenditures for
medical assistance described in sections 1905(u)(2) and 1905(u)(3) of
the Social Security Act.
On November 30, 2006, at 71 FR 69209, we published the FMAP and
Enhanced FMAP rates for each state for October 1, 2007 through
September 30, 2008 (fiscal year 2008). This notice describes the
procedure we would use to modify the fiscal year 2008 FMAP rates to
comply with the requirements of section 6053(b) of the DRA, which we
discuss more fully below.
B. Section 6053(b) of the Deficit Reduction Act
Section 6053(b) of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 requires
that calculations used in computing the FMAPs disregard evacuees and
any income attributable to them who were evacuated to and live in a
state, other than their state of residence, as of October 1, 2005 as a
result of Hurricane Katrina. The DRA defines ``evacuee'' as ``an
affected individual who has been displaced to another state'' (Sec
6201(b)(3)). This provision applies to any state that the Secretary of
HHS
[[Page 3392]]
determines has a significant number of Katrina evacuees.
The modification of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentages and
the Enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentages under the Deficit
Reduction Act affect only medical expenditure payments under Title XIX
and expenditure payments for the State Children's Health Insurance
Program under Title XXI. The Department believes that the percentages
in this rule do not apply to payments under Title IV of the Social
Security Act. In addition, the Title XIX statute provides separately
for Federal matching of administrative costs, which is not affected by
the subject Deficit Reduction Act provision.
Section 6053(b) applies to calculations for FMAPs for any year
after 2006. The underlying data that serve as the basis for the FMAP
calculations are produced by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA). Section 1101(a)(8)(B) requires FMAP
calculations to be determined using data from the Department of
Commerce. Therefore, the standard practice in the calculation of the
FMAPs is to utilize the most up-to-date BEA state per capita income
data. The Fiscal Year 2008 FMAPs, which were published on November 30,
2006 use the state per capita income estimates for 2003-2005. The first
year that the relevant data--state per capita personal income
estimates--would show any impact related to Hurricane Katrina is 2005,
since Hurricane Katrina occurred in August 2005. Therefore, this rule
proposes to implement Section 6053 (b) of the DRA starting with the
Fiscal Year 2008 FMAPs, since the 2008 FMAP calculation will be the
first year that include 2005 data.
We believe the likely Congressional intent of this provision was to
assist any state that took in a large number of Katrina evacuees. The
statute instructs HHS to remove Katrina evacuees and their income from
the FMAP calculation for any such state. This adjustment would protect
such a state from an adverse fluctuation in its FMAP based on Katrina
evacuees. This adjustment would also, however, remove any positive
fluctuation in the FMAP based on Katrina evacuees. It is not clear that
this latter impact was intended by Congress.
We believe that, because Katrina evacuees are likely to have lower
income than the general population of the states to which they are
evacuated, accurate data would probably result in no adverse
fluctuation in FMAP for any state using the standard calculation
methodology. Instead, there would probably be a positive fluctuation
under the standard calculation that would be eliminated by the
statutory adjustment. In other words, the statutory adjustment could
result in that state having a higher per capita income (and lower FMAP)
than if the adjustment was not made.
In many instances, evacuees either had lower incomes before or lost
their employment and means of support after Katrina. Evacuees' per
capita income, therefore, would be less than the per capita income of
the general population of the state(s) to which they were evacuated.
Eliminating persons of lower per capita income from any affected state
would raise overall state per capita income, thus lowering its
respective Federal FMAP percentage.
Moreover, the standard methodology used by BEA to calculate per
capita income does not permit the attribution of all income sources to
Katrina evacuees. That is, BEA does not possess the data necessary to
count all sources of Katrina evacuees' income (see detailed discussion
below), and as a result, we believe our approach offers the best
possible calculation given the limited data available.
We propose in this rule a methodology for the adjustment that would
take advantage of the way in which state population is usually
calculated to comply with our understanding of Congressional intent in
the first year, and raise the FMAP slightly for any affected state. But
we are concerned that this methodology would have the expected effect
of lowering the FMAP in future years compared to the calculation
methodology.
We are also concerned that it will be more difficult to accurately
disregard evacuee population and income in future years. It will also
become increasingly difficult to isolate Katrina evacuees' income to
adjust per capita state income calculations as BEA only captures
aggregate state income, not evacuees' income.
C. Calculation of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage
The Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) is based on the
percentage of low-income persons residing in a given state. By statute,
it is no lower than 50% and no higher than 83%. The key variable in
calculating the FMAP is the estimate of state per capita personal
income. The state per capita income estimates are then plugged into the
statutory FMAP formula. There are two components to the state per
capita personal income estimates. The denominator is the Annual
Population Estimate; the numerator is State Personal Income.
1. Modification to Population Estimate
The first adjustment that must take place under Section 6053(b) of
the DRA is to the state population estimate. The state population
estimate must be adjusted by removing all Katrina evacuees in each
state that were evacuated across state lines.
Because the state population estimates used in the 2005 Per Capita
Personal Income estimates are from July 1, 2005, which is prior to
Hurricane Katrina, these Katrina evacuees do not appear in the data
that is the basis for the state population estimates for any state
covered by this provision. Thus, while Section 6053(b) of the DRA
requires it, no adjustment to this data is required to disregard
Katrina evacuees.
To ensure compliance with the statutory requirement to disregard
Katrina evacuees, however, we explored the possibility of adjusting the
population estimates to reflect the influx of evacuees, and then
disregarding the actual number of Katrina evacuees. For this purpose,
we used BEA estimates of the number of Katrina evacuees relocated to
the various states based on FEMA data. We then used BEA's estimates of
Katrina evacuees relocated to each state to adjust upward the
population of those states to account for the influx of evacuees. We
then considered whether the influx of evacuees may have displaced other
individuals from the population of the affected state(s), but we found
no evidence to support an adjustment based on this possibility.
Following the requirements of Section 6053(b), we then would subtract
these evacuees from their respective states to arrive at a state
population prior to the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The resulting
calculations arrive at the July 1, 2005 population figures reported by
the Bureau of the Census for the time period just prior to Hurricane
Katrina. This analysis confirmed that no adjustment is required to the
population estimate used in the calculation of the state per capita
personal income for 2005 to disregard Katrina evacuees.
2. Modification to State Personal Income Estimate
The second adjustment that must take place under Section 6053(b) of
the DRA is to state personal income. State personal income must be
adjusted by removing all income that is attributed to Katrina evacuees,
and HHS has consulted with BEA at length on how to do so.
According to standard BEA methodology, state personal income
consists of the sum of wages and
[[Page 3393]]
salaries, supplements to wages and salaries, proprietor's income,
rental income, personal dividends, personal interest income, and
transfer receipts less contributions for government social insurance.
State personal income is the income that is received by, or on behalf
of, all the persons living in a state. In addition, source data for
wages and salaries, supplements to wages and salaries, and
contributions for government social insurance (which are compiled on a
place of work basis) are adjusted for persons who work in one state and
live in another.
BEA published these data in ``State Personal Income for the Fourth
Quarter of 2005 and Per Capita Income for 2005,'' which appeared in the
April 2006 Survey of Current Business, and subsequently revised in the
October 2006 Survey of Current Business. In Table D of the April 2006
article, BEA gives the adjustments it made to account for some of the
economic effects of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma that are not
reflected in the source data used to estimate state personal income for
2005. We will use these data as the basis for making the adjustments to
the FMAPs required by the Deficit Reduction Act.
Implementing Section 6053(b) is complex because the data related to
personal income are not detailed enough to fully conform to all of the
provision's requirements. For example, BEA cannot isolate the fraction
of a state's total wages and salaries that were paid to Katrina
evacuees who moved there from another state. Therefore, HHS cannot
remove income paid to Katrina evacuees for wages and salaries.
Further, HHS can only estimate some of the ``interstate income''
attributable to Katrina evacuees. For purposes of this rule, interstate
income is personal income that was paid to Katrina evacuees in a
different state than the state they were living in before Hurricane
Katrina. Included in our estimate of interstate income are governmental
transfer receipts that were paid to evacuees who may have moved across
state lines. Governmental transfer receipts consist of all transfer
payments, such as TANF or Medicaid, as well as transfers from business,
such as net insurance settlements. Transfers such as Medicare or
Medicaid are government payments made directly or through
intermediaries to vendors for the care provided to individuals.
Below we discuss three types of transfer receipt adjustments
included in Table D: FEMA disaster assistance, interstate population
dispersal, and net insurance settlements.
a. FEMA Disaster Assistance
FEMA disaster assistance is one type of transfer payment included
in personal income. For FEMA disaster assistance, payments are recorded
at the location where the recipients are residing at the time of
payment. Therefore, if the evacuees receiving FEMA disaster assistance
were evacuated to another state, the FEMA disaster assistance payment
would be counted as income in the state that they were evacuated to.
However, we can not know what proportion of the FEMA disaster
assistance payments were made to interstate evacuees and what
proportion were made to permanent residents of the states in question.
For Texas, it is likely that the majority of the FEMA disaster
assistance payments were made to interstate evacuees. For Alabama, the
FEMA disaster assistance payments were likely made to both Alabama
residents as well as interstate evacuees.
Although we cannot determine the extent to which the FEMA disaster
assistance payments represent income to interstate evacuees as opposed
to permanent residents, we propose to include the entire FEMA disaster
assistance adjustment in the estimate of interstate income. We make
this decision because we believe it is best to include as much
countable income of the evacuees as possible in order to comply with
the intent of the statute, especially given that we can not count all
sources of income for the evacuees.
b. Interstate Population Dispersal
The interstate population dispersal adjustment is BEA's estimate of
governmental transfer receipts that were paid to Hurricane Katrina
evacuees while they were living in the states to which they had been
evacuated. The transfer receipts included in the interstate population
dispersal adjustment include payments such as Medicaid or TANF, as
listed above. We propose to include the interstate population dispersal
adjustment in our estimate of interstate income.
According to Table D, some states gained income due to this
adjustment and some states lost income. A positive interstate
population dispersal adjustment, such as the adjustment for Alabama,
means that the state was estimated to receive an increase in transfer
income because evacuees moved into that state from another state, and
received transfer payments in their new state. A negative interstate
population dispersal adjustment, such as the adjustment for Louisiana,
means that the state was estimated to receive a decrease in transfer
income because evacuees moved out of that state to another state, and
received transfer payments in their new state.
BEA estimates these interstate population dispersal adjustments
based on the evacuee population that moved across state lines after the
hurricane, and the average transfer payment per evacuee. The evacuee
population is based on the FEMA Current Location Report.
c. Net Insurance Settlements
Net insurance settlements are income derived from insurance
payments made based on claims for lost or damaged property. For net
insurance settlements, BEA records the payments as income in the state
where the homes were destroyed.
Therefore, even if an evacuee received an insurance payment in a
different state from where their property was damaged, it would be
recorded as income in the state where the damage occurred. If an
individual was evacuated from Louisiana to Texas because his or her
home was destroyed in the hurricane, and he or she received an
insurance payment while living in Texas, BEA would record this payment
as income in the State of Louisiana, not the State of Texas.
Therefore, we propose not to include the net insurance settlements
adjustment in our estimate of interstate income, because the income has
already been re-allocated to the state where the evacuees lived before
Hurricane Katrina.
The methodology described above details the FMAP adjustments that
were made to accommodate the requirements of Section 6053(b) with the
available data. The calculations this year result in a positive impact
on any affected state, i.e., increasing FMAPs. As noted above, it is
unclear what effect Section 6053 (b) will have on future years should
this provision carry forward beyond fiscal year 2008. It is possible
that any affected state will receive lower FMAP rates when updated data
become available.
D. Affected States
According to Section 6053(b), the Secretary of HHS must apply this
provision to any state that the Secretary determines has a significant
number of Katrina evacuees. However, the statute provides HHS no
guidance on how to determine what number of evacuees constitutes a
``significant number.'' As a result, HHS attempted to provide an
objective means to determine a ``significant number'' of evacuees.
HHS has chosen to determine significance by calculating the numbers
of evacuees beyond two standard
[[Page 3394]]
deviations from the mean of all states' number of evacuees. Measures of
significance generally involve how observations vary in their distance
from the average of all observations in their particular group. In this
case, the observations are the number of evacuees relocated to each of
the respective states. A measure used frequently to determine
significance is the standard deviation from the mean or average. We
propose to use as the measure of a significantly affected state those
that incurred an influx of evacuees greater than twice the standard
deviation from the mean of all states.
Using the BEA estimates for the number of evacuees relocated to
each state (except as noted below for Louisiana) we calculated an
average influx of evacuees for all states of 7,159. The distribution of
evacuees into all states around this average produces a standard
deviation of 22,375. Therefore, we propose to apply the provisions of
Section 6053(b) to any state with an influx of evacuees greater than
51,909 (the mean plus two standard deviations). This methodology
specifies only Texas, with 154,018 evacuees, having such a significant
influx of evacuees.
Therefore, we propose to apply Section 6053(b) to Texas. Because
the DRA defines ``evacuee'' as ``an affected individual who has been
displaced to another state'' (section 6201 (b)(3)), we propose that
Louisiana not be considered an affected state. Although there were
intra-state evacuations within Louisiana, the provision is intended to
apply only to any state that took in a significant number of evacuees
from another state.
BEA has made available on its Web site a version of Table D that
includes adjustments for all states. The Web site address is: https://
www.bea.gov/bea/regional/articles.cfm?section=articles and the section
is: State Personal Income: Fourth Quarter of 2005 and Per Capita
Personal Income for 2005, Additional Tables.
E. Projected Effect of the Provision
Using the personal income estimates released by BEA, we have
calculated FMAPs for 2008 and the revised FMAPs applying the
methodology outlined above. The table below presents the 2008 FMAPs and
the revised 2008 FMAPs with the proposed adjustment, and the 2008
EFMAPs and the revised 2008 EFMAPs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008 with
Texas Calculated proposed
2008 adjustment
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FMAP........................................ 60.53 60.56
EFMAP....................................... 72.37 72.39
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As seen in the tables above, applying the proposed adjustment
increases the FMAP and EFMAP for Texas.
F. Time Frame for the Adjustment
The language of Section 6053(b) does not provide for a sunset of
the FMAP adjustments. Therefore, the implication is that such
adjustments would be made in perpetuity. Yet it seems unreasonable to
assume that individuals who continue to reside in a state other than
those directly impacted by Katrina would still be considered evacuees
forever, even after they have established residency and obtained
employment in their new state.
As previously mentioned, it is possible that this provision will
have a negative impact on a qualifying state's FMAP in future years.
The magnitude of this negative impact is not known at this time.
Additionally, it is technically difficult to perform the
calculations for this provision because of numerous data limitations.
Even under the calculation for FY 08, BEA was unable to completely
account for all sources of income for evacuees. It is likely that BEA
will continue to encounter these difficulties and produce limited
income estimates in the future. Furthermore, BEA may also encounter
difficulties in tracking evacuees, as it is uncertain whether such data
will be available.
For the above reasons, we are proposing to define evacuees narrowly
to ensure that an adjustment is made only to the extent warranted to
address the sudden influx directly resulting from Hurricane Katrina,
and not permanent changes in population level for host states. While we
believe the most straightforward definition of an evacuee would be to
consider individuals to be evacuees fro a time-limited period following
displacement to another state, we have listed three approaches to
define evacuees, and are soliciting public comment on the issue.
(1) The first alternative would establish a bright line test as to
how long an individual would be considered an evacuee. Under this
alternative, individuals would be considered to be Hurricane Katrina
evacuees for up to 18 months following displacement to another state.
This represents a substantial time frame during which the individual
would likely have established residency in another state and become a
functioning part of that state's economy.
(2) A second alternative approach is that individuals would be
considered to be Hurricane Katrina evacuees while receiving FEMA
Hurricane Katrina assistance. FEMA assistance is an available data
source to identify the individuals. Receipt of FEMA assistance is an
indication that individuals are not fully integrated into the economy
of a new state, and expect to return to homes that were destroyed by
Hurricane Katrina.
(3) The third alternative approach would be to consider individuals
to be Hurricane Katrina evacuees while reliable data remains available
and sufficient to identify evacuees and their income in order to carry
out the provisions of the DRA. The statute does not authorize this
Department to construct or develop its own data sources. Thus, we do
not believe that Congress intended to require this adjustment to be
made after reliable data is no longer available to support the
adjustment.
We invite comments on the adoption for the definition of evacuee
discussed above, or an alternate approach, to ensure that the effect of
section 6053(b) of the DRA is limited to addressing sudden population
influxes directly resulting from Hurricane Katrina.
G. Regulatory Impact Statement
Executive Order 12866 (as amended by Executive Order 13258, which
merely reassigns responsibility of duties) directs agencies to assess
all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public
health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). The
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires agencies to analyze options
for regulatory relief of small businesses. For purposes of the RFA,
small entities include small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and
government agencies. Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of
1995 (Pub. L. 104-4) also requires that agencies assess anticipated
costs and benefits before issuing any rule whose mandates require
spending in any one year of $100 million in 1995 dollars, updated
annually for inflation. That threshold level is currently approximately
$120 million. Executive Order 13132 establishes certain requirements
that an agency must meet when it promulgates a final rule that imposes
substantial direct requirement costs on state and local governments,
[[Page 3395]]
preempts state law, or otherwise has Federalism implications.
This rule announces the provisions of section 6053(b) of the
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. We do not estimate this regulation will
have any significant effect on the economy. Nevertheless, we estimate
the impact of the provision, once implemented, to be minimal. Our
analysis suggests that the modification to the FMAPs will only affect
Texas. The effect will likely be a minimal decrease in State Medicaid
and SCHIP spending and a corresponding minimal increase in federal
Medicaid and SCHIP spending.
In addition, the provisions only directly affect states. Therefore,
there is no need to perform a regulatory flexibility analysis in
accordance with section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
H. Summary
We propose to adjust the fiscal year 2008 FMAP rate only for the
State of Texas, by reducing the income estimates used in the FMAP
calculation through the application of adjustments to reflect
interstate population dispersal income and FEMA disaster assistance
income for evacuees. Because this is the only income that can be
attributed to Katrina evacuees based on BEA data, this income will be
subtracted from the 2005 state personal income as published by BEA in
October 2006 to obtain a new state personal income for Texas. This
state personal income will be divided by the state population as of
July 2005 to get a revised per capita personal income for each state.
This revised 2005 per capita personal income will replace the 2005 per
capita personal income in calculating the 2008 FMAPs.
Effective Dates: The percentages listed will be effective for each
of the four (4) quarter-year periods in the period beginning October 1,
2007 and ending September 30, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Musco or Robert Stewart, Office
of Health Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and
Evaluation, Room 447D--Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201, (202) 690-6870.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Nos. 93.778: Medical
Assistance Program; 93.767: State Children's Health Insurance
Program)
Dated: January 19, 2007.
Michael O. Leavitt,
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
[FR Doc. E7-1174 Filed 1-24-07; 8:45 am]
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