Department of Health and Human Services June 7, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

For purposes of Title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), defined in section 1905(b) of the Social Security Act, for each state beginning with fiscal year 2006 is subject to adjustment pursuant to section 614 of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), Public Law 111-3. Section 614 provides for a recalculation of the FMAP disregarding identifiable significantly disproportionate employer pension or insurance fund contributions for a state. These contributions, when counted, increase state personal income and, by operation of the statutory formula to calculate the FMAP, would decrease the FMAP for the state. This notice announces the proposed methodology that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will use to determine the need for, and amount of, any such recalculation of the FMAP for a state.

The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

This notice provides information about the Research Data Center (RDC) operated by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Research Data Center was established in 1998 to provide a mechanism whereby researchers can access detailed data files in a secure environment, without jeopardizing the confidentiality of respondents. Historically, the data files accessed in the RDC have consisted of NCHS survey data and vital statistics. RDC has recently begun accepting data files that were not produced from NCHS survey data. In order to assure that all data files are processed in a consistent manner, the original guidelines for accessing files in the RDC are being reviewed and revised as necessary. As part of the revision process, potential users are being given the opportunity to provide input on how the procedures of the RDC can best serve their research needs. This notice describes how to submit proposals requesting use of the data, mechanisms to access the RDC, requirements, use of outside data sets, costs for using the RDC, and other pertinent topics. We are seeking comments on these procedures and will post the final procedures on the NCHS Web site.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) created and expanded State and Federal Child Support Enforcement databases under title IV-D of the Social Security Act and significantly enhanced access to information for title IV-D child support purposes. States are moving toward more integrated service delivery to better serve the families and further the mission of the child support enforcement program, while protecting confidential data. This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposes requirements for: State Parent Locator Service responses to authorized location requests; and State Child Support Enforcement program safeguards for confidential information and authorized disclosures of this information. This proposed rule would revise certain aspects of the final rule State Parent Locator Service; Safeguarding Child Support Information Final Rule published on September 26, 2008 and effective December 30, 2010. This NPRM will prohibit disclosure of confidential and personally identifiable information to private collection agencies and expand disclosure to child welfare programs and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).