The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) today announced the members of the first three panels of the newly formed Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee (MCAC), the group of experts who will advise Medicare on coverage policy decisions.
The MCAC will serve as an advisory body to HCFA on national coverage decisions to ensure Medicare beneficiaries have access to the latest effective, evidence-based treatments. To make national coverage decisions, HCFA, the federal agency that administers Medicare, relies on medical and scientific evidence including medical literature and data, discussions with medical experts and technology evaluations.
"These experts will enhance the depth and scrutiny of the Medicare coverage decision-making process," said HCFA Deputy Administrator Michael Hash. "We anticipate that the advice and counsel of these experts will ultimately produce an improved Medicare coverage process for our beneficiaries."
HCFA published a Federal Register notice on April 27, 1999 describing the administrative process that will be used to make national coverage decisions. While building on current procedures, the agency will take additional steps to ensure that the national coverage process is more open, predictable and understandable.
The new administrative process outlines how the public may request national coverage decisions, time lines for reviewing requests and the roles of HCFA, the advisory committee and technology assessments in national coverage decisions.
. The advisory committee will hold open meetings at least twice a year and provide an opportunity for public participation on coverage issues referred to the committee by Medicare officials. The committee may review and evaluate medical literature, review technical assessments, and examine data and information on the effectiveness and appropriateness of medical items and services. Based on the medical evidence reviewed, the committee will advise and make recommendations on Medicare coverage decisions.
HCFA announced the members of the Laboratory and Diagnostic Services Panel; Drugs, Biologics and Therapeutics Panel; and Medical and Surgical Procedures Panel. The members of the three other panels on Durable Medical Equipment, Medical Devices and Prosthetics, and Diagnostic Imaging as well as the executive committee will be appointed at the first meeting of the MCAC expected to be held in the fall. The executive committee is comprised of the chairs and vice-chairs of the six panels, an at-large member from the MCAC currently not serving on a panel, and a consumer representative.
Upcoming meetings will be announced in the Federal Register and on Medicare's web site www.Medicare.gov.
Lists of the names and affiliations of the three panels announced today and the current membership of the Executive Committee are attached.
Drugs, Biologics, and Therapeutics Panel
Thomas V. Holohan, MA, MD, FACP
Chief,
Veterans Health
Administration
Department of Veterans Affairs
Washington, DC
Leslie P. Francis, JD, Ph.D.
Professor
College of Law-Department of
Philosophy
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Laboratory and Diagnostic Services Panel
John H. Ferguson, M.D.
Director,
Office of Medical Applications of
Research
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD
Robert L. Murray, Ph.D.
Technical Director
Clinical
Laboratories
Lutheran General Hospital
Park Ridge, IL
Medical and Surgical Procedures Panel
Alan M. Gabber, MD, P.d.
Professor of Medicine,
Stanford University
Medical School
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Michael D. Maves, MD, MBA
Executive Vice President,
American Academy of
Otolaryngology
Head & Neck Surgery
Alexandria, VA
Drugs, Biologics, and Therapeutics Panel of the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee
Chairperson
Thomas V. Holohan, MA, MD, FACP
Chief,
Veterans
Health Administration
Department of Veterans Affairs
Washington, DC
Vice-Chairperson
Leslie P. Francis, JD,
Ph.D.
Professor
College of Law-Department of Philosophy
University of
Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Voting Members
Judith A. Cahill, MA
Executive
Director
Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy
Alexandria, VA
Michael L. Friedland, MD
Dean
Health Sciences Center
College of
Medicine
Texas A & M University System
College Station, TX
Kathy J. Helzlsouer, MD, MHS
Associate Professor
School of Hygiene and
Public Health
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Robert C. Johnson, MS
President,
R.C. Johnson Associates
Scottsdale,
AZ
Ronald P. Jordan, R.Ph.
Senior Vice President,
Hospice
Pharmacia
Philadelphia, PA
Mitchell Sugarman, MBA,MS
Director,
Medical Technology
Assessment
The Permanente Foundation
Oakland, CA
Industry Representative
Cathleen M. Dooley,
MA
Director,
Reimbursement and Health Policy
Ortho Biotech,
Inc.
Raritan, NJ
Consumer Representative
Christine M. Grant,
JD
Commissioner,
Health and Senior Services
State of New
Jersey
Trenton, NJ
Laboratory and Diagnostics Services Panel of the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee
Chairperson
John H. Ferguson, M.D.,
Director, Office of
Medical Applications of Research
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda,
MD
Vice-Chairperson
Robert L. Murray, PhD
Techncal
Director
Clinical Laboratories
Lutherna Genral Hospital
Park Ridge,
Illinois
Voting Members
David N. Sundwall, M.D.
President,
American
Clinical Laboratory Association
Washington, DC
George G. Klee, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Laboratory Medicine
Mayo
Medical School
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN
Paul D. Mintz, M.D.
Associate Chair and Professor of
Pathology
University of Virginia Health System
Charlottesville, VA
Richard J. Hausner, M.D.
Medical Director,
Clinical
Laboratory
Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center Hospital
Houston, TX
Mary E. Kass, M.D.
Chairman,
Department of Pathology
Washington
Hospital Center
Washington, DC
Edward Conyers O'Bryan, M.D.
Chief,
Division of Cardiology
McLeod
Regional Medical Center
Florence, SC
Cheryl J. Kraft, M.S.
Administrative Laboratory Director
Clinical and
Anatomic Laboratories
Hennepin County Medical Center
Minneapolis, MN
Neysa R. Simmers, M.B.A.
Vice President
Community Services
Augusta
Health Care Inc.
Fishersville, VA
John J.S. Brooks, M.D.
Chair and Professor
Department of
Pathology
Roswell Cancer Institute
Buffalo, NY
Paul M. Fischer, M.D.
Private Practitioner,
Family Medicine
Matinez,
GA
Consumer Representative
Kathryn A. Snow, M.H.A.
Service Line
Director for Seniors
Northern Michigan Hospital
Petoskey, MI
Industry Representative
James (Rod) Barnes,
M.B.A.
Director,
Health Economics
Alcon Laboratories, Inc.
Forth
Worth, TX
Medical and Surgical Procedures Panel of the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee
Chairperson
Alan M. Garber, MD, PhD
Professor of
Medicine,
Stanford University Medical School
Stanford
University
Stanford, CA
Vice-Chairperson
Michael D. Maves, MD, MBA
Executive Vice
President,
American Academy of Otolaryngology
Head & Neck Surgery
Alexandria, VA
Voting Members
Angus M. McBryde, MD, FACS
Professor and
Chairman,
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Medical University of South
Carolina
Charleston, SC
H. Logan Holtgrewe, MD, FACS
Associate Professor,
School of
Medicine
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Kenneth P. Brin, MD, PhD
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman,
Board of
Directors
Summit Medical Group
Summit, NJ
Les J. Zendle, MD
Associate Medical Director,
Southern California
Permanente Group
Pasadena, CA
Bruce Sigsbee, MD
Executive Director,
Physicians of Cape
Cod
Hyannis, MA
Linda D. Bradley, MD
Director of Hysteroscopic Services,
The Cleveland
Clinic Foundation
Cleveland, OH
James P. Rathmell, MD
Associate Professor,
Department of
Anesthesiology
University of Vermont -College of Medicine
Burlington, VT
Arnold M. Epstein, MD
Professor and Chairman,
Department of Health
Policy and Management
Harvard School of Public Health
Boston, MA
Consumer Representative
Phyllis E. Greenberger, MSW
Executive
Director,
Society for Women's Health Research
Washington, DC
Industry Representative
Marshall S. Stanton, MD
Vice
President,
Medical Affairs
Medtronic, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN
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Last Updated October 21, 1999
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