Office of the Secretary September 19, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Defense is publishing this notice to announce that the following Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the National Defense University Board of Visitors (BOV) will take place.

This notice is to advise interested parties of a modification of the demonstration project in which the Department of Defense (DoD) evaluates allowing selected over-the-counter (OTC) drugs to be included on the TRICARE uniform formulary. The Department has been engaged in a demonstration project relating to Over the Counter (OTC) drugs since 2009. This demonstration project has been evaluating the costs/benefits and beneficiary satisfaction of providing selected OTC drugs under the pharmacy benefits program when the selected OTC drugs are determined to be clinically effective and when recommended by the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committed and approved by the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs). Under the current demonstration, the eligible drugs have been limited to those drugs for which the beneficiary has a prescription for a drug in the same class and for which a clinically effective OTC drug is also available. The current demonstration is scheduled to end in November 2014. In the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, Congress authorized the Department to provide Over the Counter (OTC) drugs to beneficiaries under regulations prescribed by the Secretary. Although the Department could now cease the demonstration and implement this new Congressional authority, it is now considering the viability of adding some drugs, such as the Plan B One-Step (levonorgestrel) which is an OTC product for all women of child-bearing potential that does not require a prescription. It was decided that the most efficient method of testing this new criteria was by modification to the current demonstration.

In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) announces a proposed public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.