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| Letter to Secretary Leavitt |
May 27, 2005 |
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Secretary Michael Leavitt
Department of Health & Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Dear Secretary Leavitt,
I appreciate your leadership in establishing a Commission to study and make recommendations on improvements to the Medicaid program. I am writing to suggest improvements to the Medicaid Commission as described in Notice CMS-2214-N in the Federal Register.
According to the notice, Members of Congress would be appointed to a non-voting Congressional Advisory Panel. While it is important for the Commission to include representation from Congress, I believe the Commission should include Members of Congress as voting members. By excluding Congressional representatives as voting members, the Commission would lack full participation by the policymakers ultimately responsible for enacting recommendations produced by the panel. I believe the future success of implementing the recommendations depends on the level to which Members of Congress are invested in the process of formulating them.
Appropriate actions should be taken to ensure a sufficient balance of partisan affiliations
and viewpoints in the selection of members to the Commission. The notice states, "The Secretary will appoint members to serve on the Commission from among those candidates that we determine have the technical expertise to meet specific agency needs in a manner to ensure an appropriate balance of membership." It is uncertain if this statement refers to a balance of state and federal representation or political affiliation. For this Commission to have credibility, it
must be truly bipartisan.
The Commission should also be independent. According to the notice, management and support services will be provided by the Department of Health and Human Services. The Secretary will select the members from the nominations submitted in the framework and will have the authority to appoint additional members as he deems appropriate. Furthermore, government officials will approve the agenda prior to each meeting and the Secretary can decide when to close meetings to the public. It is difficult to imagine a topic under discussion pertaining to the Medicaid program which would call for an exception to the sunshine laws. I would urge you to call upon the Institute of Medicine or some other independent organization to provide administration and support for the Medicaid Commission. The independence of the work of the commission will be important to giving it credibility.
I hope you would reconsider your charter for a Medicaid Commission before June 3rd.
Heather Wilson
Member of Congress |
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