Proposed Extension of Information Collection Request Submitted for Public Comment; Coverage of Certain Preventive Services Under the Affordable Care Act-Private Sector, 47769-47770 [2017-22064]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2017 / Notices
asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES
cases occurring on tribal lands in tribal
or state courts; non-prosecutorial
services provided on tribal lands (such
as victim services and community
outreach services); information sharing
with tribal governments; training
received by prosecutors about tribal
lands; and the number and types of
referrals to and cases prosecuted by
state prosecutors. The survey is
designed to describe the role that state
and local prosecutor offices play in
charging and prosecuting crimes that
occur on tribal lands in PL–280 states.
(5) An estimate of the total number of
respondents and the amount of time
estimated for an average respondent to
respond: BJS expects to cognitively test
the revised survey with about 10 offices
with an estimated burden of 60 minutes
per respondent. BJS plans to contact
about 50 prosecutor offices by telephone
to ask whether they provide services to
tribal lands with an expected
respondent burden of 10 minutes per
respondent. After the pilot test, BJS will
determine the total number of offices
that will be contacted in the full survey
effort. For the full survey, BJS estimates
a maximum of 315 offices and a
respondent burden of about 30 minutes
per office, including follow-up time.
(6) An estimate of the total public
burden (in hours) associated with the
collection: The total respondent burden
for the cognitive test is approximately
10 hours. The total respondent burden
for the telephone pilot test is
approximately 8 burden hours. The
maximum expected respondent burden
for the full survey effort is
approximately 158 burden hours. The
total burden for this effort is
approximately 176 burden hours.
If additional information is required
contact: Melody Braswell, Department
Clearance Officer, United States
Department of Justice, Justice
Management Division, Policy and
Planning Staff, Two Constitution
Square, 145 N Street NE., 3E.405A,
Washington, DC 20530.
Dated: October 10, 2017.
Melody Braswell,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S.
Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2017–22167 Filed 10–12–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410–18–P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:05 Oct 12, 2017
Jkt 244001
electronically to the following Internet
email address: ebsa.opr@dol.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security
Administration
I. Background
Proposed Extension of Information
Collection Request Submitted for
Public Comment; Coverage of Certain
Preventive Services Under the
Affordable Care Act—Private Sector
Employee Benefits Security
Administration, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Department of Labor (the
Department), in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA
95), provides the general public and
Federal agencies with an opportunity to
comment on proposed and continuing
collections of information. This helps
the Department assess the impact of its
information collection requirements and
minimize the reporting burden on the
public and helps the public understand
the Department’s information collection
requirements and provide the requested
data in the desired format. Currently,
the Employee Benefits Security
Administration is soliciting comments
on a revision of the Coverage of Certain
Preventive Services under the
Affordable Care Act—Private Sector
information collection request (ICR) to
reflect the Executive Order signed on
May 4, 2017, ‘‘Executive Order
Promoting Free Speech and Religious
Liberty.’’ The order declares, regarding
‘‘Conscience Protections with Respect to
Preventive-Care Mandate,’’ that ‘‘[t]he
Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary
of Labor, and the Secretary of Health
and Human Services shall consider
issuing amended regulations, consistent
with applicable law, to address
conscience-based objections to the
preventive-care mandate promulgated
under section 300gg–13(a)(4) of title 42,
United States Code.’’
A copy of the information collection
request (ICR) may be obtained by
contacting the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted to the office shown in the
ADDRESSES section on or before
December 12, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments
regarding the information collection
request and burden estimates to the
Office of Policy and Research, Employee
Benefits Security Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution
Avenue NW., Room N–5718,
Washington, DC 20210. Telephone:
(202) 693–8410; Fax: (202) 219–4745.
These are not toll-free numbers.
Comments may also be submitted
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00083
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
47769
The Departments of Labor, the
Treasury, and Health and Human
Services are issuing interim final
regulations regarding coverage of certain
preventive services under section 2713
of the Public Health Service Act (PHS
Act), added by the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act, as amended,
and incorporated into the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
and the Internal Revenue Code. Section
2713 of the PHS Act requires coverage
without cost sharing of certain
preventive health services by nongrandfathered group health plans and
health insurance coverage. Among these
services are women’s preventive health
services, as specified in guidelines
supported by the Health Resources and
Services Administration (HRSA).
As authorized by final regulations
issued on July 2, 2013 (78 FR 39870),
and consistent with the HRSA
guidelines, group health plans
established or maintained by certain
religious employers (and group health
insurance coverage provided in
connection with such plans) are exempt
from the otherwise applicable
requirement to cover certain
contraceptive services. Additionally,
under the final regulations, group health
plans established or maintained by
certain nonprofit organizations that hold
themselves out as religious
organizations and that have religious
objections to contraceptive coverage
(eligible organizations) are eligible for
an accommodation.
The final regulations require each
organization seeking accommodation to
self-certify that it meets the definition of
an eligible organization. The
organization must send a copy of the
self-certification to an issuer or thirdparty administrator. The organizations
seeking the accommodation must
maintain the self-certification/
notification in a manner consistent with
the record retention requirements under
section 107 of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974, which
generally requires records to be
maintained for six years. The form that
is used by eligible organizations for
their self-certification is EBSA Form
700, which is an information collection
request (ICR) subject to the Paperwork
Reduction Act.
The August 2014 interim final and
July 2015 final regulations augmented
the 2013 final regulations and revised
the EBSA Form 700 ICR in light of the
E:\FR\FM\13OCN1.SGM
13OCN1
asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES
47770
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2017 / Notices
Wheaton order.1 Specifically, the final
regulations continued to allow eligible
organizations to notify an issuer or third
party administrator using EBSA Form
700, as set forth in the July 2013 final
regulations. In addition, the final
regulations permitted an alternative
process, consistent with the Wheaton
order, under which an eligible
organization could notify the Secretary
of HHS that it will not act as the plan
administrator or claims administrator
with respect to, or contribute to the
funding of, coverage of all or a subset of
contraceptive services. The notification
must include information sufficient to
identify the plan, plan type (including
whether it is a church plan within the
meaning of ERISA section 3(33)), and
the identity and mailing addresses of
any third party administrators.
The 2017 interim final rules amend
the Departments’ July 2015 final
regulations to expand the exemption to
include additional entities (any kind of
non-governmental employer) and
persons that object based on religious
beliefs or moral convictions objecting to
contraceptive or sterilization coverage,
and by making the accommodation
compliance process optional for eligible
organizations instead of mandatory.
These rules leave in place HRSA’s
discretion to continue to require
contraceptive and sterilization coverage
where no objection exists, and to the
extent that PHS Act section 2713
otherwise applies. With respect to
employers, the expanded exemption in
these rules covers employers that have
religious beliefs or moral convictions
objecting to coverage of all or a subset
of contraceptives or sterilization and
related patient education and
counseling. While the rules cover any
kind of non-governmental employer but,
for the sake of clarity, these regulations
also include an illustrative list of
employers whose objection qualifies the
plans they sponsor for an exemption.
Consistent with the current
exemption, exempt entities will not be
required to comply with a selfcertification process. Although exempt
entities do not need to file notices or
certifications of their exemption,
existing rules governing health plans
require that a plan document specify
what is and is not covered. Thus where
an exemption applies and all or a subset
of contraception is omitted from a plan’s
coverage, the plan document and
otherwise applicable ERISA
1 The Supreme Court of the United States interim
order in connection with an application for an
injunction in the pending case of Wheaton College
v. Burwell (the ‘‘Wheaton order’’).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:05 Oct 12, 2017
Jkt 244001
disclosures 2 should reflect the omission
of coverage. This is not an added
obligation, but it will serve to help
provide notice of what plans do and do
not cover.
As in the previous rule, institutions of
higher education that arrange student
health insurance coverage will continue
to be treated similar to the way
employers are treated for the purposes
of such plans being exempt. These
interim final rules also exempt group
health plans sponsored by an entity
other than an employer, and health
insurance issuers in the group and
individual market, that object based on
religious beliefs or moral convictions to
coverage of contraceptives or
sterilization. The rules also exempt
health coverage offered or provided to
certain individuals with their own
religious or moral objections.
Employers that under the previous
rules had used the accommodation
process, but can now be exempt may
now choose to revoke their use of the
accommodation process, but in order to
do so they must provide participants
and beneficiaries written notice of such
revocation as soon as possible.
The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approved the amendments to
EBSA Form 700 required as a revision
to OMB Control Number 1210–0150
under the emergency procedures for
review and clearance in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (Pub. L. 104–13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter
35) and 5 CFR 1320.13. OMB’s approval
of the revision currently are schedule to
expire on September 30, 2018. In an
effort to consolidate the number of
information collection requests, the
Department is combining the burden
from 1210–0152 into 1210–0150. Once
this ICR is approved the Department
will discontinue. 1210–0152.
information collection unless it displays
a valid OMB control number. A
summary of the ICR and the current
burden estimates follows:
Type of Review: Revised Collection.
Agency: DOL–EBSA.
Title: Coverage of Certain Preventive
Services under the Affordable Care
Act—Private Sector.
OMB Numbers: 1210–0150.
Affected Public: Private Sector—Not
for profit and religious organizations;
businesses or other for profits.
Total Respondents: 114 (combined
with HHS total is 227).
Total Responses: 274,628 (combined
with HHS total is 549,255).
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 181 (combined with HHS total is
362 hours).
Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost:
$68,662 (combined with HHS total is
$137,325).
II. Current Actions
This notice requests public comment
pertaining to the Department’s request
for extension of OMB’s approval of its
revision to EBSA Form 700. After
considering comments received in
response to this notice, the Department
intends to submit an ICR to OMB for
continuing approval. Changes to the
current ICR include an expansion to the
number of firms that qualify for the
exemption, making the accommodation
process optional, and requiring firms
that are revoking their current
accommodation to send a notice to plan
participants and beneficiaries. The
Department notes that an agency may
not conduct or sponsor, and a person is
not required to respond to, an
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and/or
included in the ICR for OMB approval
of the extension of the information
collection; they will also become a
matter of public record.
III. Desired Focus of Comments
The Department of Labor
(Department) is particularly interested
in comments that:
• Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the information
will have practical utility;
• Evaluate the accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions
used;
• Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information to be collected; and
• Minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond,
including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or other
forms of information technology, e.g., by
permitting electronic submissions of
responses.
Dated: October 5, 2017.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research,
Employee Benefits Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2017–22064 Filed 10–12–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–29–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Comment Request
Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Department of Labor.
AGENCY:
2 See,
PO 00000
e.g., 29 CFR 2520.104b–3(d).
Frm 00084
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E:\FR\FM\13OCN1.SGM
13OCN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 197 (Friday, October 13, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47769-47770]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22064]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Proposed Extension of Information Collection Request Submitted
for Public Comment; Coverage of Certain Preventive Services Under the
Affordable Care Act--Private Sector
AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 95), provides the general
public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed
and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department
assess the impact of its information collection requirements and
minimize the reporting burden on the public and helps the public
understand the Department's information collection requirements and
provide the requested data in the desired format. Currently, the
Employee Benefits Security Administration is soliciting comments on a
revision of the Coverage of Certain Preventive Services under the
Affordable Care Act--Private Sector information collection request
(ICR) to reflect the Executive Order signed on May 4, 2017, ``Executive
Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty.'' The order
declares, regarding ``Conscience Protections with Respect to
Preventive-Care Mandate,'' that ``[t]he Secretary of the Treasury, the
Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall consider issuing amended regulations, consistent with applicable
law, to address conscience-based objections to the preventive-care
mandate promulgated under section 300gg-13(a)(4) of title 42, United
States Code.''
A copy of the information collection request (ICR) may be obtained
by contacting the office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this
notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the
ADDRESSES section on or before December 12, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments regarding the information
collection request and burden estimates to the Office of Policy and
Research, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Room N-5718, Washington, DC 20210.
Telephone: (202) 693-8410; Fax: (202) 219-4745. These are not toll-free
numbers. Comments may also be submitted electronically to the following
Internet email address: ebsa.opr@dol.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Departments of Labor, the Treasury, and Health and Human
Services are issuing interim final regulations regarding coverage of
certain preventive services under section 2713 of the Public Health
Service Act (PHS Act), added by the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act, as amended, and incorporated into the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code. Section 2713
of the PHS Act requires coverage without cost sharing of certain
preventive health services by non-grandfathered group health plans and
health insurance coverage. Among these services are women's preventive
health services, as specified in guidelines supported by the Health
Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
As authorized by final regulations issued on July 2, 2013 (78 FR
39870), and consistent with the HRSA guidelines, group health plans
established or maintained by certain religious employers (and group
health insurance coverage provided in connection with such plans) are
exempt from the otherwise applicable requirement to cover certain
contraceptive services. Additionally, under the final regulations,
group health plans established or maintained by certain nonprofit
organizations that hold themselves out as religious organizations and
that have religious objections to contraceptive coverage (eligible
organizations) are eligible for an accommodation.
The final regulations require each organization seeking
accommodation to self-certify that it meets the definition of an
eligible organization. The organization must send a copy of the self-
certification to an issuer or third-party administrator. The
organizations seeking the accommodation must maintain the self-
certification/notification in a manner consistent with the record
retention requirements under section 107 of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974, which generally requires records to be
maintained for six years. The form that is used by eligible
organizations for their self-certification is EBSA Form 700, which is
an information collection request (ICR) subject to the Paperwork
Reduction Act.
The August 2014 interim final and July 2015 final regulations
augmented the 2013 final regulations and revised the EBSA Form 700 ICR
in light of the
[[Page 47770]]
Wheaton order.\1\ Specifically, the final regulations continued to
allow eligible organizations to notify an issuer or third party
administrator using EBSA Form 700, as set forth in the July 2013 final
regulations. In addition, the final regulations permitted an
alternative process, consistent with the Wheaton order, under which an
eligible organization could notify the Secretary of HHS that it will
not act as the plan administrator or claims administrator with respect
to, or contribute to the funding of, coverage of all or a subset of
contraceptive services. The notification must include information
sufficient to identify the plan, plan type (including whether it is a
church plan within the meaning of ERISA section 3(33)), and the
identity and mailing addresses of any third party administrators.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Supreme Court of the United States interim order in
connection with an application for an injunction in the pending case
of Wheaton College v. Burwell (the ``Wheaton order'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 2017 interim final rules amend the Departments' July 2015 final
regulations to expand the exemption to include additional entities (any
kind of non-governmental employer) and persons that object based on
religious beliefs or moral convictions objecting to contraceptive or
sterilization coverage, and by making the accommodation compliance
process optional for eligible organizations instead of mandatory. These
rules leave in place HRSA's discretion to continue to require
contraceptive and sterilization coverage where no objection exists, and
to the extent that PHS Act section 2713 otherwise applies. With respect
to employers, the expanded exemption in these rules covers employers
that have religious beliefs or moral convictions objecting to coverage
of all or a subset of contraceptives or sterilization and related
patient education and counseling. While the rules cover any kind of
non-governmental employer but, for the sake of clarity, these
regulations also include an illustrative list of employers whose
objection qualifies the plans they sponsor for an exemption.
Consistent with the current exemption, exempt entities will not be
required to comply with a self-certification process. Although exempt
entities do not need to file notices or certifications of their
exemption, existing rules governing health plans require that a plan
document specify what is and is not covered. Thus where an exemption
applies and all or a subset of contraception is omitted from a plan's
coverage, the plan document and otherwise applicable ERISA disclosures
\2\ should reflect the omission of coverage. This is not an added
obligation, but it will serve to help provide notice of what plans do
and do not cover.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ See, e.g., 29 CFR 2520.104b-3(d).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As in the previous rule, institutions of higher education that
arrange student health insurance coverage will continue to be treated
similar to the way employers are treated for the purposes of such plans
being exempt. These interim final rules also exempt group health plans
sponsored by an entity other than an employer, and health insurance
issuers in the group and individual market, that object based on
religious beliefs or moral convictions to coverage of contraceptives or
sterilization. The rules also exempt health coverage offered or
provided to certain individuals with their own religious or moral
objections.
Employers that under the previous rules had used the accommodation
process, but can now be exempt may now choose to revoke their use of
the accommodation process, but in order to do so they must provide
participants and beneficiaries written notice of such revocation as
soon as possible.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the amendments
to EBSA Form 700 required as a revision to OMB Control Number 1210-0150
under the emergency procedures for review and clearance in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35) and 5 CFR 1320.13. OMB's approval of the revision currently
are schedule to expire on September 30, 2018. In an effort to
consolidate the number of information collection requests, the
Department is combining the burden from 1210-0152 into 1210-0150. Once
this ICR is approved the Department will discontinue. 1210-0152.
II. Current Actions
This notice requests public comment pertaining to the Department's
request for extension of OMB's approval of its revision to EBSA Form
700. After considering comments received in response to this notice,
the Department intends to submit an ICR to OMB for continuing approval.
Changes to the current ICR include an expansion to the number of firms
that qualify for the exemption, making the accommodation process
optional, and requiring firms that are revoking their current
accommodation to send a notice to plan participants and beneficiaries.
The Department notes that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, an information collection unless
it displays a valid OMB control number. A summary of the ICR and the
current burden estimates follows:
Type of Review: Revised Collection.
Agency: DOL-EBSA.
Title: Coverage of Certain Preventive Services under the Affordable
Care Act--Private Sector.
OMB Numbers: 1210-0150.
Affected Public: Private Sector--Not for profit and religious
organizations; businesses or other for profits.
Total Respondents: 114 (combined with HHS total is 227).
Total Responses: 274,628 (combined with HHS total is 549,255).
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 181 (combined with HHS total
is 362 hours).
Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $68,662 (combined with HHS
total is $137,325).
III. Desired Focus of Comments
The Department of Labor (Department) is particularly interested in
comments that:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the information will have practical
utility;
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., by
permitting electronic submissions of responses.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the ICR for OMB approval of the extension of the
information collection; they will also become a matter of public
record.
Dated: October 5, 2017.
Joseph S. Piacentini,
Director, Office of Policy and Research, Employee Benefits Security
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2017-22064 Filed 10-12-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-29-P