Appointments Announced to Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
New Members from Chicago, Illinois; Boston, Massachusetts; and Springfield, Ohio
WASHINGTON, DC (May 22, 2008) – Gene L. Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), today announced the appointment of three new members and the reappointment of two existing members to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). The official announcement will be published in the Federal Register.
“On a range of measures, from cost to quality, health care continues to be one of the overarching challenges facing our nation. Once again, we had many highly qualified applicants for MedPAC seats. The three individuals chosen bring a range of important experiences, qualifications, and insights to the commission,” Dodaro said. “Two current MedPAC members have agreed to serve another three-year term.”
MedPAC is an independent federal body established in 1997 to analyze access to care, cost and quality of care, and other key issues affecting Medicare. MedPAC advises Congress on payments to health plans participating in the Medicare Advantage program and providers in Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service programs. The Comptroller General is responsible for naming new commission members.
The newly appointed members, whose terms will expire in 2011, are Peter W. Butler, M.H.S.A., executive vice president and chief operating officer of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois; Michael Chernew, Ph.D., professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts; and George N. Miller, Jr., M.H.S.A., senior vice president of Catholic Health Partners and president and chief executive officer of Community Mercy Health Partners in Springfield, Ohio.
The reappointed members, whose terms will also expire in 2011, are Jennie Chin Hansen, R.N., M.S.N., member of the Board of Directors of AARP, and Nancy M. Kane, D.B.A., professor of management at the Harvard School of Public Health. Also, in anticipation of his departure next year, Robert Reischauer has asked to relinquish his role as vicechair. Jack Ebeler will serve in that role.
Commissioners whose terms will expire in 2010, are John M. Bertko, F.S.A., M.A.A.A., adjunct staff member at RAND and a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution; Francis J. Crosson, M.D., senior medical director at the Permanente Federation, LLC; Thomas M. Dean, M.D., a family physician in Wessington Springs, South Dakota; Jack C. Ebeler , M.P.A., (vice-chair), a consultant in health care policy; Arnold Milstein, M.D., M.P.H., medical director at the Pacific Business Group on Health, and William J. Scanlon, Ph.D., a health policy consultant.
Commissioners whose terms will expire in April 2009 are Mitra Behroozi, J.D., executive director of 1199 SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds; Karen R. Borman, M.D., professor of surgery and vice-chair for surgical education at the University of Mississippi Medical Center; Ronald D. Castellanos, M.D., a urologist at Southwest Florida Urologic Associates; Glenn M. Hackbarth, J.D. (chair), an independent consultant; Robert Reischauer, Ph.D., president of the Urban Institute; and Bruce Stuart, Ph.D. a professor and executive director of the Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging at the University of Maryland Baltimore.
Attached are brief biographies of new commission members. For more information about MedPAC, contact Mark Miller, MedPAC’s executive director, at (202) 220-3700. All other calls should be directed to GAO’s Office of Public Affairs at (202) 512-4800.
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Peter W. Butler, M.H.S.A. Butler 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, 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. Butler holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from Amherst College and a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan.
Michael Chernew, Ph.D. A professor in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School since 2006, Chernew taught previously at the University of Michigan, where he was co-director of the Robert Wood Johnson Scholars in Health Policy Research Program. He has served on a number of health care committees organized by federal and state governments as well as nonprofit and professional groups. Chernew co-edits the American Journal of Managed Care and serves on the editorial boards of several prominent health care journals. Chernew earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in economics from Stanford University.
George N. Miller, Jr., M.H.S.A. Over the last two decades, Miller has managed a series of hospitals, leading financial turnarounds at four of them. Since 2006, Miller has been 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. 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’s of science in health services administration from Central Michigan University.