Appointments Announced to Medicare Payment Advisory Commission

WASHINGTON, DC (May 31, 2011) – Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), today announced the appointment of two new members and the reappointment of three existing members to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). The official announcement will be published in the Federal Register.

“Given the challenges facing Medicare, MedPAC’s expert advice will be more important than ever. We were fortunate to be able to consider many highly qualified applicants for MedPAC. The two new individuals selected this year have impressive credentials and will bring valuable knowledge and experience to the commission,” said Dodaro.

The newly appointed members are: Willis D. Gradison, Jr., MBA, a Scholar in Residence in the Health Sector Management Program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and William J. Hall, MD, a geriatrician and Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. Their terms will expire in 2014.

Congress established MedPAC 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 reappointed members, whose terms will expire in April 2014, are Peter W. Butler, MHSA, President and Chief Operating Officer of Rush University Medical Center; Michael Chernew, PhD, Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School; and George N. Miller, Jr., MHSA, Chief Operating Officer of First Diversity Management Group and managing partner of First Diversity Healthcare Group.

Commissioners whose terms will expire in 2013 are Scott Armstrong, President and Chief Executive Officer of Group Health Cooperative, Katherine Baicker, PhD, Professor of Health Economics in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, Thomas M. Dean, MD, practicing physician, Horizon Health Care, Herb B. Kuhn, President and CEO, Missouri Hospital Association, Mary Naylor, PhD, RN, Marian S.Ware Professor in Gerontology and Director of the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and Cori Uccello, FSA, Senior Health Fellow of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Commissioners whose terms will expire in 2012 are Mitra Behroozi, JD, executive of 1199 SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds; Robert A. Berenson, MD, FACP (vice chair), Fellow at the Urban Institute; Karen R. Borman, MD, General Surgery Residency Program Director and an attending physician, Abington Memorial Hospital, Pennsylvania; Ronald D. Castellanos, MD, a urologist at Southwest Florida Urologic Associates; Glenn M. Hackbarth, JD (chair); and Bruce Stuart, PhD, Professor and Executive Director of the Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging at the University of Maryland Baltimore.

Below are brief biographies of the new commission members. For more information about MedPAC, contact Mark Miller, MedPAC’s executive director, at (202) 220-3700. Other calls should be directed to GAO’s Office of Public Affairs at (202) 512-4800.

Willis Gradison, Jr., MBA, is a Scholar in Residence in the Health Sector Management Program at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. He served as a member of the U.S. Congress (1975-93) where he served on the House Budget Committee and the Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Ways and Means. Mr. Gradison was a founding board member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and was Vice Chairman of the U.S. Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care (“Pepper Commission”). Prior positions also include Assistant to the Secretary of HEW, President of the Health Insurance Association of America, and Vice Chair of the Commonwealth Fund Task Force on Academic Health Centers. Mr. Gradison received his BA from Yale University and an MBA and doctorate from Harvard Business School.

William J. Hall, MD, is a geriatrician and Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine where he directs the Highland Hospital Center for Healthy Aging. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of AARP. His career has focused on systems of health care for older adults. He was instrumental in establishing a Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and developing many senior prevention and wellness programs. Dr. Hall’s prior service and positions include President of the American College of Physicians and leadership positions in the American Geriatrics Society. He received his bachelors degree from the College of the Holy Cross and his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School and pursued postdoctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine.

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