FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-3943
January 21, 1998
No. HL-17
Congressman Bill Thomas (R-CA), Chairman, Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on "Preparing the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) for the 21st Century," with the new HCFA Administrator Nancy-Ann Min DeParle. The hearing will take place on Thursday, January 29, 1998, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-33) made the most comprehensive reforms to Medicare since the inception of the program. The Congressional Budget Office now estimates that by the year 2002, 25 percent of beneficiaries will choose to enroll in a private health plan and by the year 2008, 38 percent of beneficiaries will make this choice. As the Medicare program undergoes historic changes, the role of the agency that administers Medicare must change as well. HCFA must shift from an agency that focuses on fee-for-service Medicare to one that is flexible to enough to foster, rather than impede, innovation among private plans.
Compounding this challenge are two significant changes--the agency has a new Administrator, and after more than a year of planning, the entire agency was recently reorganized. According to one senior HCFA official, the reorganization which "radically changed the composition of the agency" has resulted in low morale among staff and difficulties in determining priorities. These problems must be resolved now so that the agency can address the new challenges confronting Medicare in the next century.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Thomas stated: "The Congress worked hard last year to make important policy changes that will save the Medicare program from bankruptcy and will provide our seniors more private health plan choices. The Administration must now ensure that these important changes are implemented in the manner intended. In addition, I want to begin a discussion of the structural changes that will need to be made to prepare HCFA for the challenges that it will face in the 21st century."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing will examine the Administration's plan for implementing the recent Medicare changes that were part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. It also will look to the future to identify what structural changes will be necessary to prepare HCFA for the 21st century.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) single-space legal-size copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format only, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Thursday, February 12, 1998, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Health office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.