[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 82 (Friday, April 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 22315]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-8533]



[[Page 22315]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


Meeting of the Citizens' Health Care Working Group

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

ACTION: Notice of public 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 Citizens' 
Health Care Working Group mandated by section 1014 of the Medicare 
Modernization Act.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 11 and Thursday, May 
12, 2005 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday, May 13, 2005 from 8:30 
a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Hampton Inn & Suites Reagan 
National Airport, 2000 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia. 
The meeting is open to the public.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken Cohen, Citizens' Health Care 
Working Group, at (301) 443-1489 or [email protected]. If sign 
language interpretation or other reasonable accommodation for a 
disability is needed, please contact Mr. Donald L. Inniss, Director, 
Office of Equal Employment Opportunity Program, Program Support Center, 
on (301) 443-1144 no later than May 2, 2005.
    The agenda and roster will be available on the Citizens' Health 
Care Working Group Web site, www.citizenshealth.ahrq.gov, which will be 
operational in early May. When a transcription of the Working Group's 
April 11 and 12 meeting is completed, it will be made available on the 
website.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 1014 of Public Law 108-173, the 
Medicare Modernization Act (42 U.S.C. 299 note) directs the Secretary 
of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), acting through 
the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to establish a 
Citizens' Health Care Working Group (Working Group). The statute 
charges the Working Group to: (1) Identify options for changing our 
health care system so that every American has the ability to obtain 
quality, affordable health care coverage; (2) provide for a nationwide 
public debate about improving the health care system; and (3) submit 
their recommendations to the President and the Congress.
    The Citizens' Health Care Working Group is composed of 15 members: 
the Secretary of DHHS is designated as a member by the statute and the 
Comptroller General of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) 
is directed to appoint the remaining 14 members. The Comptroller 
General announced the 14 appointments on February 28, 2005. A list of 
the Working Group members is available on the GAO Web site (http://www.gao.gov.).

Agenda

    This meeting will include three components: (1) Briefings for the 
Working Group on aspects of the health care system that the statute 
requires then to address; (2) hearings on two broad topics, the 
uninsured and drivers of health care costs; and (3) a portion of each 
day will be devoted to ongoing Working Group business.
    The briefings will address the following topics: overview of the 
health care system, public insurance programs (Medicare, Medicaid, and 
State Childrens' Health Insurance Program), the private health 
insurance market, the uninsured, and drivers of health care costs.
    The hearings portion of the meeting is expected to address the 
following issues: public and private sector initiatives to expand 
health insurance coverage and public or private sector initiatives to 
control costs.
    The business portions of the meeting on each day will include 
discussions of future field hearings, the required Report of the 
American People, and begin the discussion of approaches for conducting 
the community meetings required by the statute.
    The official agenda will be available on the Working Group's 
website.

Submission of Written Information

    Individuals or organizations wishing to provide written information 
for consideration by the Working Group should submit information 
electronically to [email protected]. Targeted but separate 
submissions that address the following topics are encouraged: (1) The 
issues that will be addressed to the May meeting; (2) the issues that 
the statute requires the Report to the American People to address; (3) 
examples of innovative public or private sector initiatives to address 
the issues that the statute requires the hearings or Report to address; 
or (4) approaches that the Working Group should consider in developing 
the strategies and framework for the community meetings envisioned in 
the statute. If an individual or organization wishes to address more 
than one of these topics, separate submissions are requested. Because 
all electronic submissions will be posted on the Working Group web 
site, separate submissions will facilitate review of ideas submitted on 
each topic by the Working Group and the public.

    Dated: April 25, 2005.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 05-8533 Filed 4-28-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M