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WASHINGTON (June 26) The 17-member National
Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare will meet July 13
in Minneapolis where commissioners will conduct a field hearing at
the Minneapolis Convention Center and will tour several health care
sites, Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) and Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.)
announced today.
Also, the Commission has issued a "Call For Solutions,"
inviting citizens in the region to submit their ideas about how
Medicare can be improved. The ideas must be submitted in writing
by regular mail or computer e-mail before July 6. The ideas will be
reviewed, and a number of citizens will be given the opportunity to
give brief presentations to the Commission at its hearing.
Chairmen Breaux and Thomas said the Commission scheduled
the field hearing as part of a continuing effort to hear from American
citizens about the future of Medicare. The chairmen said
Minneapolis was selected because the area has
- a good blend of current and future Medicare beneficiaries
- population trends which pattern those America faces
- innovative public and private health care programs
Since March 6, the national Commission and its task forces have conducted 13 meetings -- all of them public -- and have heard from a variety of experts and representatives of current and future Medicare beneficiaries. In addition to reaching out to citizens through field hearings, the full Commission meetings have been covered gavel-to-gavel and televised nationally by C-SPAN. Also, the Commission has its own website which lists the latest meeting schedules, news advisories and all available testimony from the Commission meetings.
SPECIAL NOTES:
1) Logistics: The events for July 13 will occur between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.; the tour of sites will occur in the morning, and the field hearing will be held in the afternoon. Details will be provided as soon as they are finalized.
2) Call For Solutions
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| Quick Facts
about the Commission The National Bipartisan
Commission on the Future of
Medicare was created by the
Congress in the Balanced
Budget Act of 1997.
The Commission is charged
with examining the Medicare
program and making
recommendations by March
1, 1999, to strengthen and
improve Medicare in time for
the retirement of 77 million
"Baby Boomers."
The members represent the
public and private sectors and
are some of the nation's top
experts on Medicare, public
policy, economics and health
care.
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