[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 156 (Friday, August 11, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49245-49246]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20349]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation; 
Technical Review Panel on the Medicare Trustees Reports; Notice of 
September 7-8 and October 11-12 Meetings

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

ACTION: Notice of September 7-8 and October 11-12 Meetings.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 10(a) of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act, this notice announces the third and fourth meetings of 
the Technical Review Panel on the Medicare Trustees Reports (the 
Panel). These meetings are 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 third meeting will be held on September 7, 2000 (9 a.m. to 5 
p.m.) and September 8, 2000 (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). The fourth meeting will 
be held on October 11, 2000 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and October 12, 2000 (9 
a.m. to 1 p.m.).

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Health Care Financing 
Administration (HCFA) Headquarters, Conference Center, Room C-112, 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

[[Page 49246]]

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 consists of six members who are experts in the fields of 
economics and actuarial science: Dale Yamamoto, F.S.A., M.A.A.A., 
F.C.C.A., E.A., B.S.--Chair; Len Nichols, Ph.D.; David Cutler, Ph.D.; 
Michael Chernew, Ph.D.; James Robinson, F.S.A., M.A.A.A., Ph.D.; and 
Alice Rosenblatt, F.S.A., M.A.A.A., M.A. The members' terms will end 
August 12, 2001. Sam Gutterman, F.S.A., F.C.A.S., M.A.A.A., M.A., is a 
consultant to the Panel.
    The Panel's third meeting will be held on September 7, 2000 (9 a.m. 
to 5 p.m.) and September 8, 2000 (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). The fourth meeting 
will be held on October 11, 2000 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and October 12, 
2000 (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). The meetings will be held at the Health Care 
Financing Administration (HCFA) Headquarters, Conference Center, Room 
C-112, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland. The meetings are 
open to the public, but attendance is limited to the space available. 
The Panel's first meeting was held June 28-29, 2000, and the second 
meeting was held July 26-27, 2000.
    At its third and fourth meetings, the Panel will discuss findings 
from its subgroups on the following five topics:
    1. Medicare Assumptions
    2. Projection Methodology
    3. Long-Range Growth Assumptions
    4. Uncertainty (stochastic forecasting, alternative assumptions, 
sensitivity)
    5. Report Presentation Issues/Research and Data.
The Panel will also consider recommendations to the Board of Trustees 
in each of these areas. At the third meeting, the Panel will also hear 
presentations from organizations that develop models similar to the 
Medicare Trust Funds models.
    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 5 p.m. on August 25, 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 5 p.m. on August 31, 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 5 p.m. on August 31, 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 August 25, 2000.

    Dated: August 2, 2000.
Margaret A. Hamburg,
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 00-20349 Filed 8-10-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4154-05-P