[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 110 (Wednesday, June 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 36145]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-14238]



[[Page 36145]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

[Account Number: 4151-04]


Technical Review Panel on the Medicare Trustees Reports; Notice 
of June 28-29 Meeting

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 
HHS.

ACTION: Notice of June 28-29 meeting.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 10(a) of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act, this notice announces the first meeting of the Technical 
Review Panel on the Medicare Trustees Reports (the Panel). This meeting 
is open to the public.
    Pursuant to Public Law 92-463 (the Federal Advisory Committee Act), 
the Panel was established on August 12, 1999, by the Secretary of HHS 
to review the methods and assumptions underlying the annual reports of 
the Board of Trustees of the Hospital Insurance and Supplementary 
Medical Insurance Trust Funds.

DATES: The first meeting will be held on June 28, 2000 (11:00 a.m. to 
5:00 p.m.) and June 29, 2000 (9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.).

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Health Care Financing 
Administration (HCFA) Headquarters, Training Center Room C-101, 7500 
Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ariel Winter, Executive Director, 
Technical Review Panel on the Medicare Trustees Reports, Department of 
Health and Human Services, Room 442E, 200 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC, 20201, (202) 690-6860, [email protected]. 
Additional information is also available on the Panel's web site: 
http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/medpanel.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board of Trustees of the Medicare Trust 
Funds (the Hospital Insurance (HI) and Supplementary Medical Insurance 
(SMI) Trust Funds) report annually on the funds' financial condition. 
The reports describe the trust funds' current and projected financial 
condition, within the next 10 years (the short term) and over the 
subsequent 65 years (the long term). The Medicare Board of Trustees has 
directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services (who is one of the 
Trustees) to establish a panel of technical experts to review the 
assumptions and methods underlying the HI and SMI annual reports.
    The panel's review will include the following four topics:
    1. Medicare assumptions (e.g., utilization rates, medical price 
increases).
    2. Projection methodology (how assumptions are used to make cost 
projections).
    3. Long-range growth assumptions for HI and SMI.
    4. Use of stochastic forecasting techniques.
    The Panel will issue its findings in reports to the Secretary and 
the other Trustees.
    The Panel will consist of seven members who are experts in the 
fields of economics and actuarial science. The following individuals 
will be sworn in as members at the first meeting: Len Nichols, Ph.D.; 
David Cutler, Ph.D.; Michael Chernew, Ph.D.; Dale Yamamoto, F.S.A., 
M.A.A.A., F.C.C.A., E.A., B.S.; James Robinson, F.S.A., M.A.A.A., 
Ph.D.; Alice Rosenblatt, F.S.A., M.A.A.A., M.A.; and Sam Gutterman, 
F.S.A., F.C.A.S., M.A.A.A., M.A. (the chair-designate). The members' 
terms will end August 12, 2001.
    The first meeting of the Panel is scheduled for June 28, 2000 
(11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), and June 29, 2000 (9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.). 
The meeting will be held at the Health Care Financing Administration 
(HCFA) Headquarters, Training Center, Room C-101, 7500 Security 
Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland. The meeting is open to the public, but 
attendance is limited to the space available. There will also be an 
executive session on June 28 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for the 
swearing-in of Panel members. This session will be closed to the 
public.
    At this meeting, the members will discuss the Panel's scope of 
work. HCFA's Office of the Actuary will make presentations to the Panel 
on how the estimates in the Medicare Trustees' Reports are developed. 
Specific presentation topics may include: the HI and SMI benefits and 
income models, measures of actuarial soundness, and health care 
utilization assumptions.
    Individuals or organizations that wish to make 5-minute oral 
presentations on the agenda issues mentioned in this notice should 
contact the Executive Director by 12 noon on June 12, 2000. The number 
of oral presentations may be limited to the time available. A written 
copy of the presenters' oral remarks should be submitted to the 
Executive Director no later than 12 noon, June 19, 2000, for 
distribution to the Panel members.
    Any interested member of the public may submit written comments to 
the Executive Director and Panel members for review. Comments should be 
received by the Executive Director by 12 noon, June 19, 2000, for 
distribution to the Panel members.
    Individuals requiring sign language interpretation for the hearing 
impaired and/or other special accommodation, should contact Ariel 
Winter at (202) 690-6860 by June 16, 2000.

    Dated: May 30, 2000.
Margaret A. Hamburg,
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 00-14238 Filed 6-6-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4110-60-P