60-day FRN - 2900-0091 - VA Health Benefits: Application, Update, Hardship Determination - VA Forms 10-10EZ,10-10EZR, 10-10HS - pub 03222024

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 57 / Friday, March 22, 2024 / Notices
Submit written comments
on the collection of information through
Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) at www.Regulations.gov or to
Forrest R. Browne, Senior Procurement
Analyst; Procurement Policy Service
(PPS; 003A2A), Department of Veterans
Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20420 or email to
Forrest.Browne@va.gov. Please refer to
‘‘OMB Control No. 2900–0688’’ in any
correspondence. During the comment
period, comments may be viewed online
through FDMS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Maribel Aponte, Office of Enterprise
and Integration, Data Governance
Analytics (008), 810 Vermont Ave. NW,
Washington, DC 20006, (202) 266–4688
or email maribel.aponte@va.gov. Please
refer to ‘‘OMB Control No. 2900–0688’’
in any correspondence.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
PRA of 1995, Federal agencies must
obtain approval from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for each
collection of information they conduct
or sponsor. This request for comment is
being made pursuant to section
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA.
With respect to the following
collection of information, OAL invites
comments on: (1) whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of OAL’s
functions, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) the accuracy of OAL’s estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of
information; (3) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (4)
ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on
respondents, including through the use
of automated collection techniques or
the use of other forms of information
technology.
Authority: Public Law 104–13; 44
U.S.C. 3501–3521.
Title: Veterans Affairs Acquisition
Regulation (VAAR) 832.202–4, Security
for Government Financing.
OMB Control Number: 2900–0688.
Type of Review: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Abstract: Performance of the VA
mission may require VA to provide
advance payments to contractors. To
comply with 41 U.S.C. 4505 requiring
the Government to obtain adequate
security for Government financing, VA
Acquisition Regulation (VAAR)
832.202–4, Security for Government
Financing specifies the type of
information that the contracting officer
may obtain to determine whether or not
the offeror’s financial condition

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constitutes adequate security. The
information that is gathered under
832.202–4 will be used by the VA
contracting officer to assess whether or
not the contractor’s overall financial
condition represents adequate security
to warrant paying the contractor in
advance.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit.
Estimated Annual Burden: 424 hours.
Estimated Average Burden per
Respondent: 30 minutes.
Frequency of Response: 1 per each
solicitation.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
847.
By direction of the Secretary.
Maribel Aponte,
VA PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
Enterprise and Integration/Data Governance
Analytics, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2024–06090 Filed 3–21–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS
[OMB Control No. 2900–0091]

Agency Information Collection
Activity: VA Health Benefits:
Application, Update, Hardship
Determination
Veterans Health
Administration, Department of Veterans
Affairs.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

Veterans Health
Administration (VHA), Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), is announcing an
opportunity for public comment on the
proposed collection of certain
information by the agency. Under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of
1995, Federal agencies are required to
publish notice in the Federal Register
concerning each proposed collection of
information, including each proposed
extension of a currently approved
collection, and allow 60 days for public
comment in response to the notice.
DATES: Written comments and
recommendations on the proposed
collection of information should be
received on or before May 21, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments
on the collection of information through
Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) at www.Regulations.gov or to
Grant Bennett, Office of Regulations,
Appeals, and Policy (10BRAP),
Department of Veterans Affairs, 810
Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20420 or email to Grant.Bennett@va.gov.
Please refer to ‘‘OMB Control No. 2900–
SUMMARY:

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0091’’ in any correspondence. During
the comment period, comments may be
viewed online through FDMS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dorothy Glasgow, Office of Enterprise
and Integration, Data Governance
Analytics (008), 810 Vermont Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20420, (202) 461–
1084 or email dorothy.glasgow@va.gov.
Please refer to ‘‘OMB Control No. 2900–
0091’’ in any correspondence.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
PRA of 1995, Federal agencies must
obtain approval from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for each
collection of information they conduct
or sponsor. This request for comment is
being made pursuant to section
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA.
With respect to the following
collection of information, VHA invites
comments on: (1) whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of VHA’s
functions, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) the accuracy of VHA’s estimate of
the burden of the proposed collection of
information; (3) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (4)
ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on
respondents, including through the use
of automated collection techniques or
the use of other forms of information
technology.
Authority: Public Law 104–13; 44
U.S.C. 3501–3521.
Title: VA Health Benefits:
Application, Update, Hardship
Determination (VA Forms 10–10EZ, 10–
10EZR and 10–10HS).
OMB Control Number: 2900–0091.
Type of Review: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Abstract: Title 38 U.S.C. chapter 17
authorizes VA to provide hospital care,
medical services, domiciliary care, and
nursing home care to eligible Veterans.
Title 38 U.S.C. 1705 requires VA to
design, establish, and operate a system
of annual patient enrollment in
accordance with a series of stipulated
priorities. Title 38 U.S.C. 1722
establishes eligibility assessment
procedures for cost-free VA medical
care, based on income levels, which
determines whether nonserviceconnected and 0% service-connected
non-compensable Veterans are able to
defray the necessary expenses of care for
nonservice-connected conditions.
Further, when the Veteran projects that
their attributable income for the current
calendar year would be substantially
below the applicable income thresholds,
the Veteran would be considered unable

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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 57 / Friday, March 22, 2024 / Notices

to defray the expenses of care and VA
may exempt the Veteran from the
requirement to pay copayments for
hospital or outpatient care. In addition,
section 103 of Public Law 117–168,
titled the Sergeant First Class Heath
Robinson Honoring our Promise to
Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT)
Act of 2022, amended title 38 U.S.C.
1710(e)(3) by expanding the health care
eligibility benefit for Veterans who
participated in a toxic exposure risk
activity (TERA) while serving on active
duty, active duty for training, or inactive
duty training.
This collection of information is
required to properly administer health
benefits to eligible Veterans.
a. VA Form 10–10EZ, Application for
Health Benefits, is used to collect
Veteran information during the initial
application process for VA medical care,
nursing home, domiciliary, dental
benefits, etc. Updates were made to this
form pursuant to section 103 of the
PACT Act to collect additional
information in the Military Service
section for the expanded TERA health
care eligibility benefit. Corresponding
changes were made to the Instructions
and Definitions sections.
b. VA Form 10–10EZR, Health
Benefits Update Form, is used to update
a Veteran’s personal information, such
as marital status, address, health
insurance and financial information, for
renewal of health benefits. Updates
were made to this form pursuant to
section 103 of the PACT Act to collect
additional information in the Military
Service section for the expanded TERA
health care eligibility benefit.
Corresponding changes were made to
the Instructions and Definitions
sections.
c. VA Form 10–10HS, Request for
Hardship Determination, is used to
collect information from Veterans who
are in a copay required status for
hospital care and medical services, but
due to a loss of income project their
income for the current year will be
substantially below the VA means test
limits. No updates were made to this
form.
These forms collect information to
enroll a Veteran for health benefits,
establish basic eligibility, determine
TERA benefit eligibility, identify 3rd
party health insurance coverage,
identify prescription copayment,
provide for income verification, and
serve as a mechanism to make changes
upon admission for benefits or yearly
financial updates.
Total Annual Burden: 703,300 hours.

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Total Annual Responses: 1,406,000.
VA Form 10–10EZ
Affected Public: Individuals and
households.
Estimated Annual Burden: 315,000
hours.
Estimated Average Burden per
Respondent: 35 minutes.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
540,000.
VA Form 10–10EZR
Affected Public: Individuals and
households.
Estimated Annual Burden: 386,550
hours.
Estimated Average Burden per
Respondent: 27 minutes.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
859,000.
VA Form 10–10HS
Affected Public: Individuals and
households.
Estimated Annual Burden: 1,750
hours.
Estimated Average Burden per
Respondent: 15 minutes.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
7,000.
By direction of the Secretary.
Maribel Aponte,
VA PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
Enterprise and Integration/Data Governance
Analytics, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2024–06065 Filed 3–21–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS
Revised VA Tribal Consultation Policy
and Directive 8603
Department of Veterans Affairs.
Notice.

AGENCY:
ACTION:

The Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) Office of Public and
Intergovernmental Affairs (OPIA), Office
of Tribal Government Relations (OTGR),
has updated their policy and directive
on VA Tribal Consultation, in
accordance with Executive Order 13175
and Presidential Memorandum January
2021. We request that tribal leaders or
their designees review the final
directive/policy and provide any
additional feedback.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before April 22, 2024.
SUMMARY:

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Comments must be
submitted through www.regulations.gov.
Except as provided below, comments
received before the close of the
comment period will be available at
www.regulations.gov for public viewing,
inspection, or copying, including any
personally identifiable or confidential
business information that is included in
a comment. We post the comments
received before the close of the
comment period on
www.regulations.gov as soon as possible
after they have been received. VA will
not post on Regulations.gov public
comments that make threats to
individuals or institutions or suggest
that the commenter will take actions to
harm the individual. VA encourages
individuals not to submit duplicative
comments; however, we will post
comments from multiple unique
commenters even if the content is
identical or nearly identical to other
comments.

ADDRESSES:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Veronica Duncan, Tribal Relations
Specialist, 202–461–7431, 810 Vermont
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420.
(This is not a toll-free number.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA has
gathered tribal input on the policy
through a March 2021 Dear Tribal
Leader Letter requesting written
comments, a series of six tribal
consultation meetings held in April
2021, and a review of the policy by VA’s
Advisory Committee on Tribal and
Indian Affairs. VA has reviewed all
input received through this engagement
and proposes several edits to the Tribal
Consultation Policy in response to the
tribal recommendations deemed feasible
to implement. VA Directive 8603 on
Consultation and Communication with
Federally Recognized Indian Tribes can
be found at: www.va.gov/vapubs/
search_action.cfm?dType=1.
Signing Authority
Denis McDonough, Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, approved and signed
this document on March 18, 2024, and
authorized the undersigned to sign and
submit the document to the Office of the
Federal Register for publication
electronically as an official document of
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Jeffrey M. Martin,
Assistant Director, Office of Regulation Policy
& Management, Office of General Counsel,
Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2024–06055 Filed 3–21–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

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