[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 241 (Friday, December 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77122-77123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27263]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

[CMS-9896-N]


Membership List and Meeting Dates for the Ground Ambulance and 
Patient Billing (GAPB) Advisory Committee, January 17-18, 2023

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the Membership of the Ground Ambulance 
and Patient Billing (GAPB) Advisory Committee and a public meeting of 
the Committee on January 17 and 18, 2023. The GAPB Advisory Committee 
will make recommendations with respect to disclosure of charges and 
fees for ground ambulance services and insurance coverage, consumer 
protection and enforcement authorities of the Departments of Labor, 
Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the Departments) and 
relevant States, and the prevention of balance billing to consumers. 
The recommendations shall address options, best practices, and 
identified standards to prevent instances of balance billing; steps 
that can be taken by State legislatures, State insurance regulators, 
State attorneys general, and other State officials as appropriate, 
consistent with current legal authorities regarding consumer 
protection; and legislative options for Congress to prevent balance 
billing.

DATES: 
    Virtual Meeting Dates: The GAPB Advisory Committee will hold a 
virtual meeting on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 and Wednesday, January 18, 
2023, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.
    Registration Link: The virtual meeting will be open to the public 
and held via the Zoom webinar platform. Virtual attendance information 
will be provided upon registration. To register for this virtual 
meeting, please visit: https://priforum.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_YyO3T0-uTj6hZSJ9m2i9tg. Attendance is open to the public subject to 
any technical or capacity limitations.
    Deadline for Registration: All individuals who plan to attend the 
virtual public meeting must register to attend. The deadline to 
register for the public meeting is Monday, January 16, 2023. Interested 
parties are encouraged to register as far in advance of the meeting as 
possible. A detailed agenda and materials will be available 
approximately 2 days before the meeting on the GAPB Advisory Committee 
website at: https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb.
    A recording of the meeting and a summary of the meeting will be 
made available on the GAPB Advisory Committee website within 30 
calendar days after the meeting.

ADDRESSES: Virtual Meeting Location: The January 17 and 18, 2023, 
public meeting will be held virtually via Zoom only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shaheen Halim, CMS, by phone (410) 
786-0641 or via email at [email protected]. Press 
inquiries may be submitted by phone (202) 690-6145 or via email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Section 117(a) of the No Surprises Act, enacted as part of the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, div. BB, tit. I, Public Law 116-
260 (Dec. 27, 2020), requires the Secretaries of Labor, HHS, and the 
Treasury to establish and convene an advisory committee for the purpose 
of reviewing options to improve the disclosure of charges and fees for 
ground ambulance services, better inform consumers of insurance options 
for such services, and protect consumers from balance billing. The GAPB 
Advisory Committee is governed by the provisions of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (FACA), Public Law 92-463 (Oct. 6, 1972), as 
amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 2.

[[Page 77123]]

II. Advisory Committee Membership Roster

    On November 23, 2021, HHS published a Notice of Charter and 
Invitation for Member Nominations in the Federal Register for the GAPB 
Advisory Committee (86 FR 66565 through 66566). HHS received a total of 
52 complete member nominations from the public by December 13, 2021. 
The nominees were evaluated by the Departments for alignment with the 
membership categories required under Section 117 of the No Surprises 
Act, their professional qualifications, recognition by the ground 
ambulance and emergency medical services community, years of relevant 
experience, experience with State or Federal committees on related 
issues, and expertise in subject matter to be addressed by the 
committee. The Departments also considered membership balance as 
required by FACA, and as appropriate to address health equity issues 
pertaining to ground ambulance consumer balance billing, and ground 
ambulance services in underserved communities.
    The 17 Members of the GAPB Advisory Committee are:

 Asbel Montes--Committee Chairperson; Additional Representative 
determined necessary and appropriate by the Secretaries
 Ali Khawar--Secretary of Labor's Designee
 Thomas West--Secretary of Treasury's Designee
 Rogelyn McLean--Secretary of Health and Human Services' 
Designee
 Gamunu Wijetunge--Department of Transportation--National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration
 Suzanne Prentiss--State Insurance Regulators
 Adam Beck--Health Insurance Providers
 Patricia Kelmar--Consumer Advocacy Groups
 Gary Wingrove--Patient Advocacy Groups
 Ayobami Ogunsola--State and Local Governments
 Ritu Sahni--Physician specializing in emergency, trauma, 
cardiac, or stroke
 Peter Lawrence--State Emergency Medical Services Officials
 Shawn Baird--Emergency Medical Technicians, Paramedics, and 
Other Emergency Medical Services Personnel
 Edward Van Horne--Representative of Various Segments of the 
Ground Ambulance Industry
 Regina Godette-Crawford--Representative of Various Segments of 
the Ground Ambulance Industry
 Rhonda Holden--Representative of Various Segments of the 
Ground Ambulance Industry
 Loren Adler--Additional Representative determined necessary 
and appropriate by the Secretaries

    The GAPB Committee Roster will also be posted on the GAPB website 
at: https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb.

III. Meeting Agenda

    The first meeting of the GAPB Advisory Committee will occur on 
January 17 and 18, 2023. During this meeting, the Committee will gather 
background information on the No Surprises Act, the ground ambulance 
industry, insurance and billing practices, and consumer issues such as 
disclosure of fees and balance billing, prior to discussing potential 
subcommittees and focus areas. The agenda will cover the following 
topics:

 No Surprises Act overview
 Overview of the ground ambulance industry
 Insurance and ground ambulance payment systems
 Ground ambulance billing practices
 Disclosure of charges to consumers, separation of charges and 
cost shifting
 Impact of balance billing on consumers and current consumer 
protections
 Balance billing prevention, including potential legislative 
and regulatory options
    A more detailed agenda and materials will be made available 
approximately 2 days before the meeting on the GAPB website (listed 
above).

IV. Public Participation

    This meeting will be open to the public. Attendance may be limited 
due to virtual meeting constraints. Interested parties are encouraged 
to register as far in advance of the meeting as possible. To register 
for the meeting, please visit: https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb. CMS is committed to providing equal access to 
this meeting for all participants and to ensuring Section 508 
compliance. Closed captioning will be provided. If you need alternative 
formats or services because of a disability, such as sign language 
interpreter or other ancillary aids, please contact the person listed 
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

V. Submitting Written Comments

    Members of the public may submit written comments on subject matter 
under committee deliberation prior to the webinar via email to 
[email protected]. Comments must be submitted via email 
no later than January 3, 2023. During the virtual meeting, members of 
the public will have the opportunity to submit comments through the 
chat feature of the webinar platform. These comments will be compiled 
for future consideration by the committee.

V. Viewing Documents

    You may view the documents discussed in this notice at https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb.
    The Administrator of CMS, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, having reviewed 
and approved this document, authorizes Lynette Wilson, who is the 
Federal Register Liaison, to electronically sign this document for 
purposes of publication in the Federal Register.

    Dated: December 12, 2022.
Lynette Wilson,
Federal Register Liaison, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
[FR Doc. 2022-27263 Filed 12-13-22; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P