[Federal Register: January 25, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 16)]
[Notices]
[Page 3468-3469]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25ja07-97]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Request and
Comment Request
The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes a list of
information collection packages that will require clearance by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with Pub. L. 104-
13, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. The
information collection packages that may be included in this notice are
for new information collections, approval of existing information
collections, revisions to OMB-approved information collections, and
extensions (no change) of OMB-approved information collections.
SSA is soliciting comments on the accuracy of the agency's burden
estimate; the need for the information; its practical utility; ways to
enhance its quality, utility, and clarity; and on ways to minimize
burden on respondents, including the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology. Written comments
and recommendations regarding the information collection(s) should be
submitted to the OMB Desk Officer and the SSA Reports Clearance
Officer. The information can be mailed and/or faxed to the individuals
at the addresses and fax numbers listed below:
(OMB) Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA, Fax:
202-395-6974.
(SSA) Social Security Administration, DCFAM, Attn: Reports Clearance
Officer, 1333 Annex Building, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21235,
Fax: 410-965-6400.
I. The information collections listed below are pending at SSA and
will be submitted to OMB within 60 days from the date of this notice.
Therefore, your comments should be submitted to SSA within 60 days from
the date of this publication. You can obtain copies of the collection
instruments by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer at 410-965-
0454 or by writing to the address listed above.
1. Farm Self-Employment Questionnaire--20 CFR 404.1095--0960-0061.
Section 211(a) of the Social Security Act requires the existence of a
trade or business as a prerequisite for determining whether an
individual or partnership may have ``net earnings from self-
employment.'' Form SSA-7156 elicits the information necessary to
determine the existence of an agricultural trade or business and
subsequent covered earnings for Social Security entitlement purposes.
The respondents are applicants for Social Security benefits, whose
entitlement depends on whether the worker has covered earnings from
self-employment as a farmer.
Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information
collection.
Number of Respondents: 47,500.
Frequency of Response: 1.
Average Burden Per Response: 10 minutes.
Estimated Annual Burden: 7,917 hours.
2. Accelerated Benefits Demonstration Project--0960-NEW. The
Accelerated Benefits Demonstration Project is a multi-phase study
designed to assess whether providing new Social Security Disability
Insurance (SSDI) recipients with certain benefits will stabilize or
improve their health and help them return to work early. In this long-
term study, new SSDI disability recipients (i.e., those who have just
begun receiving benefits and who have at least 18 months remaining
before they qualify for Medicare) will be divided into three groups:
(1) A control group that will just receive their regular SSDI benefits;
(2) a treatment group that will receive immediate access to health care
benefits; and (3) a treatment group that will receive health care
benefits and additional care management, employment, and benefits
services and support. The study, which will be
[[Page 3469]]
conducted for SSA by research contractors and health care experts, will
assess if the accelerated benefits help new beneficiaries improve and
return to work earlier and if there is a difference between the
treatment groups. The respondents are beneficiaries who have just begun
receiving SSDI disability benefits and are not yet eligible for
Medicare health benefits.
Type of Request: New information collection.
Total Estimated Annual Burden: 1,570 hours.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average burden per Estimated annual
Part of Study Number of respondents Frequency of response response (minutes) burden (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Focus Groups 40 1 120 80
Pilot Survey 500 1 30 250
Actual Survey/ 2,000 1 30 1,000
Assessment of
Treatment Efficacy
(``Baseline Survey'')
Three-Month Follow-Up 480 1 30 240
Survey (``Early Use
Survey'')
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total............. 3,020 ...................... ...................... 1,570
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please Note: This Notice was originally published on January 8,
2007, at 72 FR 834. At that time, there was an inadvertent error. In
places where we stated ``SSI,'' we meant to say ``SSDI.'' This
notice corrects that error; all other information remains unchanged.
3. Authorization to Disclose Information to the Social Security
Administration--20 CFR Subpart O, 404.1512 and Subpart I, 416.912--
0960-0623. SSA must obtain sufficient medical evidence to make
eligibility determinations for the SSDI benefits and Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) payments. For SSA to obtain medical evidence, an
applicant must authorize his or her medical source(s) to release the
information to SSA. The applicant may use form SSA-827 to provide
consent for release of information. Generally, the State DDS completes
the form(s) based on information provided by the applicant, and sends
the form(s) to the designated medical source(s). The respondents are
applicants for SSDI and SSI payments.
Type of Request: Revision of an OMB-approved information
collection.
Number of Respondents: 3,853,928.
Frequency of Response: 1 (Average forms per case 4).
Average Burden Per Response: *13 minutes.
Total Annual Responses: 15,415,712.
Estimated Annual Burden: 835,018 hours.
* Please Note: Respondents to the SSA-827 collection complete a
total four forms. SSA estimates that it takes a claimant 10 minutes
to read both sides and sign the initial SSA-827. However, once a
claimant reads the first form, it takes considerably less time to
date and sign the subsequent forms because the forms do not have to
be read again. SSA estimates the signing and dating of the three
additional forms at one minute per form, resulting in three
additional minutes. Therefore, the total time it takes to complete
all four SSA-827's is 13 minutes.
II. The information collections listed below have been submitted to
OMB for clearance. Your comments on the information collections would
be most useful if received by OMB and SSA within 30 days from the date
of this publication. You can obtain a copy of the OMB clearance
packages by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer at 410-965-0454,
or by writing to the address listed above.
Representative Payee Report--20 CFR 404.2035, 404.2065, 416.635,
and 416.665--0960-0068. SSA uses forms SSA-623 and SSA-6230 to
determine if (1) Payments sent to individual representative payees have
been used for SSDI beneficiaries and SSI recipients' current
maintenance and personal needs and (2) the representative payee
continues to be a capable representative concerned with the
individual's welfare. The respondents are individual representative
payees for recipients of SSDI benefits and SSI payments.
Type of Request: Revision to an OMB-approved information
collection.
Number of Respondents: 5,500,000.
Frequency of Response: 1.
Average Burden Per Response: 15 minutes.
Estimated Annual Burden: 1,375,000 hours.
Dated: Janaury 19, 2007.
Elizabeth A. Davidson,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-1089 Filed 1-24-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P