Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)

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Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)

-601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W. Suite 9000 Washington, DC 20001 202-220-3700

* http://www.medpac.gov/

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“About MEDPAC”

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is an independent Congressional agency established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-33) to advise the U.S. Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program. The Commission’s statutory mandate is quite broad: In addition to advising the Congress on payments to private health plans participating in Medicare and providers in Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service program, MedPAC is also tasked with analyzing access to care, quality of care, and other issues affecting Medicare.

The Commission’s 17 members bring diverse expertise in the financing and delivery of health care services. Commissioners are appointed to three-year terms (subject to renewal) by the Comptroller General and serve part time. Appointments are staggered; the terms of five or six Commissioners expire each year. For more information on the commissioner appointment process, please click here. The Commission is supported by an executive director and a staff of analysts, who typically have backgrounds in economics, health policy, public health, or medicine.

MedPAC meets publicly to discuss policy issues and formulate its recommendations to the Congress. In the course of these meetings, Commissioners consider the results of staff research, presentations by policy experts, and comments from interested parties. (Meeting transcripts are available on this website.) Commission members and staff also seek input on Medicare issues through frequent meetings with individuals interested in the program, including staff from congressional committees and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), health care researchers, health care providers, and beneficiary advocates.

Two reports — issued in March and June each year — are the primary outlet for Commission recommendations. In addition to these reports and others on subjects requested by the Congress, MedPAC advises the Congress through other avenues, including comments on reports and proposed regulations issued by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, testimony, and briefings for congressional staff.

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Commission Members

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Chairman:
Glenn M. Hackbarth, J.D.

 Glenn M. Hackbarth, J.D., M.A., chairman of the Commission, lives in Bend, OR. He has experience as a health care executive, government official, and policy analyst. He was chief executive officer and one of the founders of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, a multispecialty group practice in Boston that serves as a major teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Mr. Hackbarth previously served as senior vice president of Harvard Community Health Plan and president of its Health Centers Division, as well as Washington counsel of Intermountain Health Care. He has held various positions at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including deputy administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (now known as CMS). He currently serves as the vice chairman of the board of the Foundation of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is also a board member at the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and at the Commonwealth Fund. He is also a member of the Commonwealth Fund’s Commission on a High Performance Health System. Mr. Hackbarth received his B.A. from Pennsylvania State University and his J.D. and M.A. from Duke University.

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Vice Chairman:
Robert Berenson, M.D., F.A.C.P.

 Urban Institute, Washington, DC.

Robert A. Berenson, M.D., F.A.C.P., is an Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute. From 1998 to 2000 he served as Director of the Center for Health Plans and Providers in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services overseeing provider payment policy and managed care contracting. Dr. Berenson was founder and medical director of the National Capital Preferred Provider Organization from 1986 to 1996. He served as an Assistant Director of the White House Domestic Policy staff in the Carter Administration. Dr. Berenson has authored many articles in nationally recognized journals and several books, and he most recently co-authored Medicare Payment Policy and the Shaping of U.S. Health Care. Dr. Berenson is a board-certified internist who practiced for twenty years. He received his B.A. from Brandeis University and his M.D. from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

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Scott Armstrong, M.B.A.
 Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, WA.

Scott Armstrong is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Group Health Cooperative (Seattle, WA), a consumer-governed health system serving 650,000 enrollees through coordinated care plans for groups and individuals and for Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP beneficiaries. He has worked at Group Health since 1986, serving in positions ranging from assistant hospital administrator to chief operating officer; he became President and CEO in 2005. Before joining Group Health, Mr. Armstrong was the assistant vice president for hospital operations at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Armstrong is a board member of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. He is also chair of the Board of the Pacific Science Center and a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He received his bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College in New York and a master’s degree in business with a concentration in hospital administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Katherine Baicker, PhD
 Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

Katherine Baicker, PhD is Professor of Health Economics in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, where her research focuses on health insurance finance and the effect of reforms on the distribution and quality of care. Dr. Baicker has served on the faculty of the Department of Public Policy in the School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles, the Economics Department at Dartmouth College, and the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences and the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. From 2005 to 2007, Professor Baicker served as a Senate-confirmed member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. She is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and is on the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Health Advisers. She also served as a commissioner of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America and was a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Health Insurance Status and its Consequences. She received her BA in economics from Yale University and her PhD in economics from Harvard University.

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Mitra Behroozi, J.D.
1199SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds, New York, NY

Mitra Behroozi, J.D., is the executive director of the 1199SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds. Ms. Behroozi oversees eight major health and pension funds for health care workers. Collectively, these self-administered and self-insured health funds are among the largest in the nation. Under her leadership, the Funds have implemented a series of plan design and innovative cost containment programs, which are protecting benefits for members and retirees. Previously, Ms. Behroozi was a partner with Levy, Ratner & Behroozi, PC, representing New York City unions in collective bargaining negotiations and proceedings. While at the law firm, she also served as union counsel to Taft-Hartley benefit and pension funds. She serves on the board of the Brooklyn Health Information Exchange (BHIX). Ms. Behroozi has a law degree from New York University and an undergraduate degree in sociology from Brown University.

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Karen R. Borman, M.D.
Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington, PA

Karen R. Borman, M.D., FACS, is the General Surgery Residency Program Director and an attending physician at Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington, Pennsylvania. She is board certified in surgery and in surgical critical care. Her clinical focus is on endocrine surgery and her research focus is on surgical education. She is a member of General Surgery CPT/RUC Committee of the American College of Surgeons. She is a director and an executive committee member of the American Board of Surgery. She is the President of the Association of Program Directors in Surgery. She is a test development committee member for the National Board of Medical Examiners. She has worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on issues related to physician payment and service coverage. Dr. Borman was a member of the executive committee and vice-chair of the American Medical Association’s Current Procedural Terminology Editorial Panel. She also served on the AMA Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technology Assessment Panel. Dr. Borman earned her medical degree from Tulane University. Her undergraduate degree in chemistry is from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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Peter W. Butler, M.H.S.A.
 Rush University, Chicago, IL.

Peter W. Butler, M.H.S.A., is a nationally recognized health care executive with more than 25 years of experience in teaching hospitals and health care systems. In addition to being executive vice president and chief operating officer of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Butler is an associate professor and chairman of the Department of Health Systems Management at Rush University. Before joining Rush in 2002, he served in senior positions at The Methodist Hospital System in Houston and the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. Mr. Butler holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from Amherst College and a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan.

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Ronald D. Castellanos, M.D.
 Southwest Florida Urologic Associates,Ft. Myers, FL

Ronald D. Castellanos, M.D., has practiced urology for more than 30 years. For the past four years Dr. Castellanos has been a member, and for the last year the chair, of the Practicing Physicians Advisory Council on issues related to physician payment. Dr. Castellanos was president of the Florida Urologic Society and has worked with several other organizations on health policy, including the American Urologic Association and the American Lithotripsy Society. Dr. Castellanos earned his medical degree from Hahnemann Medical College. His undergraduate degree is from Pennsylvania State University.

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Michael Chernew, Ph.D.
 Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Michael Chernew, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chernew’s research activities focus on several areas, most notably the causes and consequences of growth in health care expenditures and Value Based Insurance Design (VBID). Professor Chernew is a member of the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Health Advisors and Commonwealth Foundation’s Commission on a High Performance Health System. In 2000 and 2004, he served on technical advisory panels for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that reviewed the assumptions used by the Medicare actuaries to assess the financial status of the Medicare trust funds. Dr. Chernew is a Faculty Research Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He co-edits the American Journal of Managed Care and is a Senior Associate Editor of Health Services Research. Dr. Chernew earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in economics from Stanford University.

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Thomas M. Dean, M.D.
 Horizon Health Care, Inc., Wessington Springs, SD.

Thomas M. Dean, M.D., is a board-certified family physician who has practiced in Wessington Springs, South Dakota, since 1978. He is chief of staff at Avera Weskota Memorial Medical Center. Dr. Dean is on the board of directors of Avera Health Plan, the Bush Foundation Medical Fellowship, and the South Dakota Academy of Family Physicians. He was president of the National Rural Health Association, and he published articles and presented on health care in rural areas. Dr. Dean received the Dr. Robert Hayes Memorial Award for outstanding rural health provider, received the Pioneer Award from the South Dakota Perinatal Association, and was awarded a Bush Foundation Medical Fellowship. Dr. Dean earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. His undergraduate degree is from Carleton College.

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Jennie Chin Hansen, R.N., M.S.N., F.A.A.N.
 American Geriatric Society, New York, NY.

Jennie Chin Hansen, R.N., M.S.N., F.A.A.N., is currently CEO of the American Geriatric Society, and previously she was president of AARP and a senior fellow at University of California’s Center for the Health Professions. Ms. Hansen was executive director of On Lok Senior Health Services, the prototype for the Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) a capitated program for frail elders which integrates Medicare and Medicaid finances and care delivery and was signed into federal legislation as a provider type in the BBA of 1997. PACE now operates in over 30 states. She has practiced and taught nursing in both urban and rural settings. She currently serves in leadership roles on the National Academy of Social Insurance, the SCAN Foundation, the Institute of Medicine Initiative on the Future of Nursing and the Executive Nurse Fellows Program, the latter two by funded the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Ms. Hansen consults with other foundations on leadership development and independent reviews. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. Ms. Hansen received her B.S. from Boston College and her M.S.N. from the University of California, San Francisco.

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Nancy M. Kane, D.B.A.
 Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.

Nancy M. Kane, D.B.A., is professor of management in the Department of Health Policy and Management and associate dean of education at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Kane directs the Masters in Healthcare Management Program, an executive leadership program for mid-career physicians leading healthcare organizations. She has taught health care accounting, payment systems, financial analysis, and competitive strategy. Her research interests include measuring hospital financial performance, quantifying community benefits and the value of tax exemption, the competitive structure and performance of hospital and insurance industries, and nonprofit hospital governance. Professor Kane consults with federal and state agencies involved in health system design, oversight, and payment. She is an outside director of Press Ganey, which provides patient satisfaction surveys and comparative performance reports to health care providers. Prior to obtaining her business training, she practiced as a hospital-based physical therapist. Dr. Kane earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in business administration from Harvard Business School.

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Herb Kuhn
 Missouri Hospital Association, Jefferson City, MO

Herb B. Kuhn is the current president and CEO of the Missouri Hospital Association (MHA), the trade association serving the state’s 176 hospitals and health systems. Prior to joining MHA, Mr. Kuhn served in multiple roles at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including as Deputy Administrator from 2006 to 2009 and as Director of the Center for Medicare Management from 2004 to 2006. From 2000 to 2004, Mr. Kuhn served as corporate vice president for the Premier Hospital Alliance, serving 1,600 institutional members. From 1987 through 2000, Mr. Kuhn worked in federal relations with the American Hospital Association. In 2008 Mr. Kuhn was named by Modern Healthcare magazine as one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare in the United States. Mr. Kuhn received his Bachelor of Science in Business from Emporia State University.

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George N. Miller, Jr., M.H.S.A.
First Diversity Healthcare Group, Springfield, OH.

George N. Miller, Jr., M.H.S.A., has, over the last two decades, managed a series of hospitals, leading financial turnarounds at four of them. Since 2008, Mr. Miller has been the Managing Partner and COO of First Diversity Healthcare Group (FDHG). FDHG is a national healthcare consulting firm helping healthcare organizations improve their operations. He was the president and CEO of Community Mercy Health Partners and senior vice president of Catholic Health Partners, a hospital chain in the Springfield, Ohio, area. Previously, he ran hospitals in Illinois, Texas, and Virginia and is the immediate past president of the National Rural Health Association. Mr. Miller has been an adjunct professor in health services administration at Central Michigan University since 1998. He has an undergraduate degree in business administration from Bowling Green State University and a master of science in health services administration from Central Michigan University.

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Mary Naylor, PhD, RN, FAAN
 University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing, Philadelphia, PA.

Mary Naylor, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Marian S. Ware Professor in Gerontology and Director of the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Since 1989, Dr. Naylor has led an interdisciplinary program of research designed to improve the quality of care, decrease unnecessary hospitalizations, and reduce health care costs for vulnerable community-based elders. Dr. Naylor is also the National Program Director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program, Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative, aimed at generating, disseminating, and translating research to understand how nurses contribute to quality patient care. She co-chaired the National Quality Forum’s Steering Committee on Nursing Care Performance Measures. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine. Dr. Naylor received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and her BS in Nursing from Villanova University.

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Bruce Stuart, Ph.D.
 The Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging at the University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD

Bruce Stuart, Ph.D., is a professor and executive director of the Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. An experienced research investigator, Mr. Stuart has directed grants and contracts with various federal agencies, private foundations, state governments, and corporations. Mr. Stuart joined the faculty of the University of Maryland’s School of Pharmacy in 1997 as the Parke-Davis endowed chair in geriatric pharmacy. Previously, he taught health economics, finance, and research methods at the University of Massachusetts and the Pennsylvania State University. Earlier, Mr. Stuart was director of the health research division in the Michigan Medicaid program. Mr. Stuart was designated a Maryland eminent scholar for his work in geriatric drug use. His current research focuses on the policy implications of the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Mr. Stuart received his economics training at Whitman College and Washington State University.

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Cori Uccello, FSA, MAAA, MPP
 American Academy of Actuaries, Washington, DC.

Cori E. Uccello, FSA, MAAA, MPP is Senior Health Fellow of the American Academy of Actuaries, serving as the actuarial profession’s chief public policy liaison on health issues. Before joining the Academy in 2001, Ms. Uccello was a senior research associate at the Urban Institute where she focused on health insurance and retirement policy issues. She previously held the position of actuarial fellow at the John Hancock Life Insurance Company. Ms. Uccello has written extensively on the health insurance market and the Medicare program, including pieces on Medicare’s financial condition and the Medicare prescription drug program. Ms. Uccello is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She received her BS from Boston College and her MPP from Georgetown University.

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Commission Staff

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Executive director Mark E. Miller, Ph.D.   Deputy director James E. Mathews, Ph.D.   Principal policy analysts Cristina Boccuti, M.P.P. Carol Carter, Ph.D. David V. Glass, M.S. Scott Harrison, Ph.D. Kevin Hayes, Ph.D. Anne Mutti, M.P.A. Nancy Ray, M.S. John Richardson, M.P.P. Rachel Schmidt, Ph.D. Joan Sokolovsky, Ph.D. Jeffrey Stensland, Ph.D.   Senior analysts Zachary Gaumer, M.P.S. Craig K. Lisk, M.S. Kim Neuman, M.A. Shinobu Suzuki, M.A. Ariel Winter, M.P.P. Daniel Zabinski, Ph.D.   Analysts Christine Aguiar, M.P.H. Evan Christman, M.P.Aff.   Research assistants Matlin Gilman Kelly Miller

Associate director Jennifer Stolbach, M.H.S.   Assistant director Arielle Mir, M.P.A   Administrative staff Reda Broadnax, executive officer, B.S. Wylene Carlyle Paula Crowell Tina Jennings, MTESL Plinie A. Johnson Eloise Plater Cynthia Wilson   Consultants Dana Kelley, M.P.A. Julian Pettengill Carlos Zarabozo, A.B.