Department of Health and Human Services January 13, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a program of periodic surveys conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Examination surveys conducted since 1960 by NCHS have provided national estimates of the health and nutritional status of the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population. To add to the large amount of information collected for the purpose of describing the health of the population, blood lymphocytes were collected in NHANES III in anticipation of advances in genetic research. The lymphocytes have been stored and maintained at the Division of Laboratory Sciences (DLS) at the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), CDC. The collection of lymphocytes was begun in the second phase of the survey (1991-1994) because of the significant advances in the rapidly evolving field of molecular biology that were occurring during the planning phase of this survey. CDC is making DNA samples from these specimens available to the research community for genetic analyses. Specimens are available from approximately 7,159 participants in the second phase of NHANES III. No cell lines will be made available. This program has been previously announced (Tuesday, June 1, 1999 [64 FR 29321]; Thursday, August 8, 2002 [67 FR 51585]). The purpose of this notice is to announce a fourth category for proposals for use of these specimens, add an additional secondary review of approved applications and provide a new proposal schedule. For final proposal guidelines and requests or letters of intent, please contact Ms. Oraegbu or go to https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nhanes/ dnafnlgm2.htm. All interested researchers are encouraged to submit letters of intent. No funding is provided as part of this solicitation. Proposals will be reviewed by a technical panel and approved applications will be reviewed by an internal Secondary Review Committee, which will perform a programmatic review based on the results of the peer review for technical merit. The primary purpose of the Secondary Review Committee is to factor in the scientific and technical results from the first level of review, important programmatic considerations such as program priorities, program relevance, and other criteria germane to this announcement and to CDC. The secondary review panel will be comprised of senior CDC scientists, who will advise the Director, NCHS, on the approved applications. Projects approved by both reviews will be submitted to the NCHS Ethics Review Board for final approval. Approved projects that do not obtain funding on their own will be canceled. A more complete description of this program follows.

This notice announces the annual adjustment in the amount in controversy (AIC) threshold amounts for administrative law judge (ALJ) hearings and judicial review under the Medicare appeals process. The adjustments to the AIC threshold amounts will be effective for requests for ALJ hearings and judicial review filed on or after January 1, 2006. The 2006 AIC threshold amounts are $110 for ALJ hearings and $1090 for judicial review.