Request for Public Comment: 30-Day Proposed Information Collection: Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program, 48387 [E8-19053]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
• Indian Health Service

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 19, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 48387]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-19053]



[[Page 48387]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Indian Health Service


Request for Public Comment: 30-Day Proposed Information 
Collection: Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program

AGENCY: Indian Health Service, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 which requires 30 days for public comment on 
proposed information collection projects, the Indian Health Service 
(IHS) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a 
request to review and approve the information collection listed below. 
This proposed information collection project was previously published 
in the Federal Register (73 FR 29520) on May 21, 2008 and allowed 60 
days for public comment. No public comment was received in response to 
the notice. The purpose of this notice is to allow 30 days for public 
comment to be submitted directly to OMB.
    Proposed Collection: Title: 0917-0014, ``Indian Health Service Loan 
Repayment Program.'' Type of Information Collection Request: Extension, 
without revision, of currently approved information collection, 0917-
0014, ``Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program.'' Form Number(s): 
The IHS Loan Repayment Program Information Booklet contains the 
instructions and the application formats. Need and Use of Information 
Collection: The IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP) identifies health 
professionals with pre-existing financial obligations for education 
expenses that meet program criteria and who are qualified and willing 
to serve at, often remote, IHS health care facilities. Under the 
program, eligible health professionals sign a contract under which the 
IHS agrees to repay part or all of their indebtedness for professional 
training education. In exchange, the health professionals agree to 
serve for a specified period of time in IHS health care facilities. 
This program is necessary to augment the critically low health 
professional staff at IHS health care facilities.
    Any health professional wishing to have their health education 
loans repaid, may apply to the IHS Loan Repayment Program. A two-year 
contract obligation is signed by both parties, and the individual 
agrees to work at an IHS location and provide health services to Native 
American and Alaska Native individuals.
    The information collected from individuals is analyzed and a score 
is given to each applicant. This score will determine which applicants 
will be awarded each fiscal year. The administrative scoring system 
assigns a score to the geographic location according to vacancy rates 
for that fiscal year and also considers whether the location is in an 
isolated area. When an applicant takes employment at a location, they 
in turn ``pick-up'' the score of that location. Affected Public: 
Individuals and households. Type of Respondents: Individuals.
    The table below provides: Types of data collection instruments, 
Estimated number of respondents, Number of responses per respondent, 
Annual number of responses, Average burden hour per response, and Total 
annual burden hour(s).

                                             Estimated Burden Hours
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                                                     Estimated                    Average burden
           Data collection instrument                number of     Responses per     hour per      Total annual
                                                    respondents     respondent       response      burden hours
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Section I.......................................             510               1           18/60           153.0
Section II......................................             510               1           30/60           255.0
Section III.....................................             510               4           15/60           128.0
Contract........................................             510               1           20/60           170.0
Affidavit.......................................             510               1           10/60            85.0
Lender's Certification..........................           2,000  ..............           15/60           500.0
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................           4,550  ..............  ..............         1,291.0
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    There are no Capital Costs, Operating Costs, and/or Maintenance 
Costs to report.
    Request for Comments: Your written comments and/or suggestions are 
invited on one or more of the following points: (a) Whether the 
information collection activity is necessary to carry out an agency 
function; (b) whether the agency processes the information collected in 
a useful and timely fashion; (c) the accuracy of the public burden 
estimate (the estimated amount of time needed for individual 
respondents to provide the requested information); (d) whether the 
methodology and assumptions used to determine the estimates are 
logical; (e) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information being collected; and (f) ways to minimize the public burden 
through the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other 
technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Direct Comments to OMB: Send your written comments and suggestions 
regarding the proposed information collection contained in this notice, 
especially regarding the estimated public burden and associated 
response time to: Office of Management and Budget, Office of Regulatory 
Affairs, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 
20503, Attention: Desk Officer for IHS. To request more information on 
the proposed collection or to obtain a copy of the data collection 
instrument(s) and/or instruction(s) contact: Ms. Janet Ingersoll, 
Acting IHS Reports Clearance Officer, 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 
450, Rockville, MD 20852-1601; call non-toll free (301) 443-6177; send 
via facsimile to (301) 443-2316; or send your e-mail requests, 
comments, and return address to: Janet.Ingersoll@ihs.gov.
    Comment Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection 
are best assured of having full effect if received within 30 days of 
the date of this publication.

    Dated: August 11, 2008.
Robert G. McSwain,
Director, Indian Health Service.
 [FR Doc. E8-19053 Filed 8-18-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-16-M