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WASHINGTON (May 18) -- The Modeling Task Force
of the national Medicare commission will meet Wednesday,
May 20, as it works to prepare an analysis of the problems
facing Medicare, Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) and Rep. Bill
Thomas (R-Calif.) said today.
The task force will meet from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Room
H-137 of the U.S. Capitol. It is the third meeting of the
task force since April 21.
The task force is meeting throughout May to prepare
an analysis for the commission to consider at its June 1-2
meeting in Washington, D.C. That analysis will present
possible scenarios for Medicare's future, based on
anticipated demographic changes.
Experts say that in 10 years, Medicare will face a
dramatic increase in the demand for its services as 77
million "Baby Boomers" start retiring, entering Medicare
and relying on the program for their health care needs.
In addition to the work of the Modeling Task Force, the
commission's Reform Task Force will hold its first meeting
on June 2, and the Restructuring Task Force will begin
meeting shortly thereafter. The Reform and Restructuring
task forces are scheduled to make presentations at the
commission's meetings in July and September, respectively.
The 17-member National Bipartisan Commission on the
Future of Medicare was established by the Balanced
Budget Act of 1997 and is charged with finding ways to
preserve Medicare for future generations. The
commission's report is due to be delivered to the Congress
and the Administration by March 1, 1999.
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Medicare Commission
Task Force Members
The 17-member National Bipartisan
Commission on the Future of Medicare has
established three task forces to study
various aspects of Medicare. In the course
of their work, the task forces will make
presentations to the full commission about
their findings and analyses. Commission
chairmen, Sen. John Breaux and Rep. Bill
Thomas, are members of each task force,
and the other members are listed below:
The Modeling Task Force will help to
1) define the Medicare problem, 2) highlight
the demographic changes Medicare is
expected to face, and 3) detail the effects
of those expected changes.
Members are Sen. J. Robert Kerrey,
Neb.; Rep. James McDermott, Wash.;
Deborah Steelman, Washington, D.C.;
Laura D'Andrea Tyson, Ph.D.,
Berkeley, Calif.; and Bruce Vladeck,
Ph.D., New York, N.Y.
The Reform Task Force will look for
innovative solutions to improve the current
Medicare program. Members are Rep.
Michael Bilirakis, Fla.; Rep. John
Dingell, Mich.; Rep. Greg Ganske,
Iowa; Illene Gordon, Jackson, Miss.;
and Sen. John D. Rockefeller,
IV, W.Va.
The Restructuring Task Force will
"take a blank sheet of paper" approach,
suggesting ways to structure Medicare as if
the program was just being created.
Members are Stuart Altman, Ph.D.,
Waltham, Mass.; Sen. Bill Frist, Tenn.;
Sen. Phil Gramm, Texas; Samuel
Howard, Nashville, Tenn.; and
Anthony Watson, New York, N.Y.
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