Medicaid program: computer matching and privacy protection for Medicaid eligibility--HCFA. Final rule

This final rule revises regulations concerning the income and eligibility verification system (IEVS) under the Medicaid program. It implements provisions of the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 and the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Amendments of 1990. These laws improve the oversight and procedures governing the disclosure of personal information used in computer matching programs and protect the privacy and due process rights of individuals whose records are exchanged by these programs.     

Privacy Act of 1974; computer matching program--HCFA. Notice of a matching program--HCFA's Health Insurance (HI) Master Record and information from four Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) systems of records

The Department of Health and Human Services is providing public notice that the RRB agrees to disclose information concerning Medicare eligible railroad retirees to HCFA. The matching report set forth below is in compliance with the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (Pub. L. No. 100-503).     

Privacy Act of 1974; matching program--HCFA. Notice of a matching program--the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), and HCFA--disclosure of IRS taxpayer identity and filing status information to be matched with SSA earned income information for Medicare beneficiaries and their spouses

As required by Section 6202 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (OBRA 1989), Public Law 101-239, the Department of Health and Human Services is providing public notice that the IRS and the SSA will disclose certain information regarding the taxpayer identification and filing status and the earned income of Medicare beneficiaries and their spouses for HCFA's use in identifying Medicare secondary payer (MSP) situations. This will enable HCFA to seek recovery of identified mistaken payments that were the liability of another primary insurer or other type of payer. The matching report set forth below is in compliance with the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (Pub. L. No. 100-503).     

(In)Efficiency of matching: the case of a post-transition economy

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we provide estimates of the evolution in matching efficiencies in Poland, demonstrating decrease in estimated efficiency scores. These trends are accompanied by decreasing outputs in the matching function, as well as the lowering of the elasticities. Second, we relate the estimated efficiency scores to the use of active labour market measures. We find that job brokering intensity is conducive to matching efficiency, but active labour market policies coverage in general is not.     

Medicare program; changes to the electronic prescribing (eRx) incentive program. Final rule

This final rule modifies the electronic prescribing (eRx) quality measure used for certain reporting periods in calendar year (CY) 2011; provides additional significant hardship exemption categories for eligible professionals and group practices to request an exemption during 2011 for the 2012 eRx payment adjustment due to a significant hardship; and extends the deadline for submitting requests for consideration for the two significant hardship exemption categories for the 2012 eRx payment adjustment that were finalized in the CY 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule with comment period.     

2D/3D image (facial) comparison using camera matching

A problem in forensic facial comparison of images of perpetrators and suspects is that distances between fixed anatomical points in the face, which form a good starting point for objective, anthropometric comparison, vary strongly according to the position and orientation of the camera. In case of a cooperating suspect, a 3D image may be taken using e.g. a laser scanning device. By projecting the 3D image onto a 2D image with the suspect's head in the same pose as that of the perpetrator, using the same focal length and pixel aspect ratio, numerical comparison of (ratios of) distances between fixed points becomes feasible. An experiment was performed in which, starting from two 3D scans and one 2D image of two colleagues, male and female, and using seven fixed anatomical locations in the face, comparisons were made for the matching and non-matching case. Using this method, the non-matching pair cannot be distinguished from the matching pair of faces. Facial expression and resolution of images were all more or less optimal, and the results of the study are not encouraging for the use of anthropometric arguments in the identification process. More research needs to be done though on larger sets of facial comparisons.     

Privacy Act of 1974; computer matching program--HCFA. Clarification--computer match between HCFA and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)--notice published in the Federal Register on July 5, 1989

Pursuant to the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, Public Law 100-503, October 18, 1988, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines on the Conduct of Matching Programs, the IRS published a notice in the Federal Register (54 FR 28149; July 5, 1989) announcing their intention to conduct a match with a number of Federal and State agencies including HCFA. These matches, in accordance with various provisions of section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) of 1986, provide these agencies with tax information from IRS records to assist them in administering the programs and activities as described. The match with HCFA is pursuant to IRC 6103(1)(7). The IRS is required, upon written request, to disclose current information from returns with respect to unearned income to any Federal, State, or local agency administering certain federally approved programs to provide, among other things, medical assistance. HCFA is publishing this notice to ensure that the public is aware that it is participating in this match to verify Medicaid eligibility. The HHS Data Integrity Board has approved an Agreement between HCFA and the IRS on February 8, 1990, as required by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988.     

Commercialization activities in the SBIR program (part 1)

Telephone surveys were conducted over a three-year period on more than 800 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II projects initiated during the first three years of the program. For most of these projects, respondents were surveyed four years after receiving their Phase II award Five distinct levels of commercialization activity were identified ranging from “commercialization has occurred” (Level 1) to “commercialization is not expected” (Level 5). At the time of the survey, 12% of the projects had achieved commercialization (Level 1) and 18% were experiencing some commercialization success (Levels 1 and 2 combined). Of the participating federal agencies, the Department of Health and Human Services had by far the largest percentage of commercialized projects. For all agencies, over 60% of the respondents attributed nearly all of their projects' success to the SBIR program. Eighty-four percent stated that the technology development effort would not have been pursued without SBIR. Survey responses were also analyzed for a series of factors to determine their influence on the extent of commercialization activity. Factors included in the series are those related to the SBIR company conducting the project, the technology being developed, and marketing the product or service expected to be derived from the SBIR effort.     

Medicaid program; Medicaid eligibility quality control (MEQC) program requirements--HCFA. Final rule with comment period

This rule revises the regulations governing the Medicaid eligibility quality control (MEQC) program to include more specific program requirements and to establish new timeframes for completing and reporting MEQC case findings to HCFA. The rule also establishes a performance-based threshold for States to meet before HCFA will consider good faith waiver requests of disallowance of Federal financial participation (FEP) in erroneous Medicaid payments and provides more definitive criteria for evaluating States' good faith efforts to meet the national standard error rate. In addition, the rule makes several technical changes and provides that a State may rebut its projected error rate only when it can present evidence that its projected error rate was based on erroneous data. These revisions will strengthen the basic MEQC program and provide flexibility and incentives to States to produce accurate Medicaid eligibility determinations.     

Part II of David Bainbridge's study of the copyright (computer software) amendment act 1985

The considerable amount of piracy of computer programs which has taken place recently has shaken the software industry's confidence in legal methods of protecting their products. If nothing more, the new Act should restore some of this confidence, but the industry must be prepared to take the legal measures now available. The stronger criminal sanctions provided for by section 3 of the Act emphasise the criminality of software piracy and it is hoped that the police will also begin to take software theft seriously. But there are some grey areas in copyright law as amended by the new Act; the precise scope of ‘material form’ and ‘adaptation’ are unclear - will the making of a duplicate of a program stored on magnetic cassette tape infringe copyright? A wide definition of ‘material form’ could have put protection beyond doubt whilst allowing for future developments in computer storage media. The new Act is seen as an interim measure pending a comprehensive review of copyright law (per Lord) Lucas of Chilworth, Hansard House of Lords, 10 May 1985 p. 873; he said that the Government hoped to bring forward a comprehensive Copyright Bill no later than the 1986/7 session). Furthermore, the whole area of computer storage of more traditional works of copyright such as literary and musical works, is not specifically mentioned in the new Act. Other questions such as the ownership of works including computer programs produced by or with the aid of a programmed grammed computer (first identified as being a likely problem as early as 1977 by the Whitford Committee) are not dealt with all by the Act. Lord Macmilland of Ovenden recently called for new legislation to deal with the copyright problems caused by new technology (The Times 18th September 1985 p.3), and it is hoped that full consideration will be given to the effect of computers on all forms of intellectual property when copyright law is rationalised and re-codified.     

Medicare program; Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) amendments--HCFA. General notice

This notice--1. Describes the changes made to the MSP for the disabled provision by sections 13561(b) and 13561(e) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Public Law 103-66, hereafter referred to as OBRA '93; and 2. Provides guidance for employers and employer health plans so that they can provide to Medicare contractors and beneficiaries the information necessary to implement these changes. Section 13561(b) changes the sunset date of the MSP for the disabled provision from October 1, 1995 to October 1, 1998. Section 13561(e) modifies the MSP for the disabled provision to conform to the MSP for the working aged provision, so that for both groups, the MSP provision applies (and the group health plan is primary payer) only when coverage under the plan is based on "current employment status with an employer."     

Reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Final rule

This final rule implements changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program required by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) (Pub. L. 109-171). The DRA reauthorized the TANF program through fiscal year (FY) 2010 with a renewed focus on work, program integrity, and strengthening families through healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood. On June 29, 2006, ACF published an interim final rule implementing the required statutory changes with a 60-day comment period that ended on August 28, 2006. We have considered all comments received during this period and made necessary changes as reflected in this final rule.     

Addition of medical criteria for evaluating Down syndrome in adults. Social Security Administration (SSA). Final rule

We are adding a new listing to evaluate non-mosaic Down syndrome in adults. Our current regulations only include a listing for evaluating Down syndrome in children; we evaluate claims filed by adults with Down syndrome under other listings. We are establishing a separate adult listing for this disorder to acknowledge its lifelong impact and severity. We expect that these final rules will simplify and expedite our adjudication of claims filed by adults with non-mosaic Down syndrome.     

Medicaid program; coordination of Medicaid with Special Supplemental Food program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)--HCFA. Final regulations

This rule requires State Medicaid agencies to coordinate the operation of the Medicaid program with the State's operation of the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) under section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. State Medicaid agencies also are required to notify certain individuals of WIC benefits and refer them to the local WIC agencies. This requirement ensures that all Medicaid-eligible individuals who might be WIC-eligible are aware of WIC benefits and how to obtain them. The rule implements section 6406 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989.     

Medicaid program; allocation of enhanced federal matching funds for increased administrative costs resulting from welfare reform--HCFA. Notice with comment period

This notice with comment period announces the methodology used to determine the allocation, among the States and certain Territories, of a $500 million fund to assist them with the additional expenses attributable to eligibility determinations incurred as a result of the provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which decouples Medicaid eligibility from receipt of cash assistance for families and children. Also, it announces the actual allocation amount for each State and Territory. The special fund is available for matching a State's or Territory's allowable administrative expenditures incurred only during Federal fiscal years 1997 through 2000, and only during the first 12 calendar quarters in which the State's Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, which replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, is in effect after August 21, 1996.     

基于内存比对的CAFIS系统指纹比对方法改进研究

目的研究改进现有指纹自动识别系统的比对速度。方法将大量的比对数据提前加载到内存中,结合多线程并行计算,达到一次加载多次使用的目的。结果多组测试数据证明内存比对方式可以有效减少访存时间,提高了整体比对速度。结论指纹系统的内存比对方式是快速可行的比对方法。