FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-3943
February 4, 1999
No. HL-1
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 to examine the Health Care Financing Administration's ( HCFA's) ability to administer the current Medicare program and to manage the future needs of growing numbers of seniors. The hearing will take place on Thursday, February 11, 1999, in 1310 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 2:30 p.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Invited witnesses will include HCFA Administrator, Nancy-Ann Min DeParle, representatives from the U.S. General Accounting Office, and contractors who process and audit claims for the Medicare program. 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:
Medicare serves 37 million Americans, providing health coverage to seniors, disabled beneficiaries and kidney failure patients. According to recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, total Medicare spending for Fiscal Year 1999 is expected to be approximately $218 billion. HCFA, which administers the Medicare program, faces both short-term challenges and potential long-term pitfalls.
The short-term challenge for HCFA is implementing the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) (P.L. 105-33). The BBA ensures solvency of the Medicare trust funds for the next decade by establishing new payment methodologies for skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospital outpatient departments, and other service categories. In recent months, HCFA has delayed implementation of a number of BBA provisions. The long-term problems facing the program, including demographic changes and rising medical costs, are being addressed by the Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. But, unless the short-term challenges are successfully resolved, HCFA will be ill-prepared to cope with future needs of seniors.
One year ago, the Subcommittee asked GAO to do a thorough examination of HCFA's ability to meet its program management challenges and to describe any actions HCFA needed to take to accomplish its objectives over the next few years. The GAO found that the program growth and greater responsibilities were "outstripping HCFA's capacity to manage its existing workload" and made several recommendations. The Subcommittee has requested that the GAO return to HCFA, one year later, to document the current status of the agency and to note any areas of particular concern.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Thomas stated: "Taxpayers and our nation's seniors deserve a well managed Medicare program that meets their health needs. As the Committee begins its work addressing the complex issues facing the Medicare program, a natural place to start is with a thorough examination of the agency which administers the program."
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 six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Thursday, February 25, 1999, 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, by close of business the day before the hearing.
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 submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
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, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. 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.