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Bush Administration Adds to the Push For Medicare Streamlining

by Stephen Barlas

Geriatric Times

March/April 2002

Vol. III

Issue 2

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A new federal advisory committee will be making recommendations on how to make life easier for physicians when dealing with Medicare. The Bush administration's creation of the 27-member Secretary's Advisory Committee on Regulatory Reform, which met for the first time on Jan. 7, comes on the heels of the passage of a bill by the U.S. House to rein in Medicare audits of physicians.

Addressing the first meeting at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said, "We are going to work to find places where we can make it easier to provide health care while still maintaining high standards." The committee will be holding meetings around the country, but dates and locations have yet to be announced.

Thompson set a deadline of this fall for the panel to conclude its work but urged members not to wait to forward ideas as they come along. "I don't want to wait nine months to get anything done. Let's start making changes immediately," Thompson added. The committee is chaired by Douglas L. Wood, M.D., a practicing cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Congress is already halfway home to making some significant changes in the way Medicare deals with physicians. The House overwhelmingly passed the Medicare Regulatory and Contracting Reform Act on Dec. 4, 2001, by a vote of 408 to 0. But despite the bipartisan support, the Senate was unable to follow suit prior to Congress adjourning for 2001.

The Senate version of the bill was introduced by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) and is less comprehensive than the House bill.

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3/02