The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will seek external experts for a new committee tasked with providing strategic guidance on the care provided by government insurance programs.
The HHS announced Thursday that the Healthcare Advisory Committee will offer recommendations to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz, M.D., seeking to “improve how care is financed and delivered” across Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges.
The CMS is currently accepting nominations for committee members and is looking for experts in chronic disease management, financing in federal health programs and delivery system reform. Individuals can either be nominated by an organization or submit a nomination for themselves.
“This is a moment for action,” Oz said in an announcement. “This committee will help us cut waste, reduce paperwork, expand preventive care and modernize CMS programs with real-time data and accountability, all while keeping patients at the center.”
The announcement outlines several key focus areas for which the committee will develop recommendations. For one, it will be tasked with creating actionable policies to promote chronic disease prevention and management. In addition, it will seek to establish a regulatory framework that promotes patient safety while reducing “unnecessary red tape.”
The committee members will also work to advance a real-time data system that allows for faster claims processing and quality measurement as well as to identify “structural opportunities” to improve the Medicaid program.
Finally, the committee will examine the sustainability of Medicare Advantage, building a more modern approach to risk adjustment and quality measurement in the program, the CMS said.
The CMS said in the announcement that nominations will be accepted for 30 days after the call goes live on the Federal Register, a date set for Aug. 22, with the full list of committee members to be published later this year.
“Every American high-quality, affordable care—without red tape, corporate greed, or excessive costs,” said RFK Jr. “This new advisory committee will unite the best minds in healthcare to help us deliver real results, hold the system accountable, and drive forward our mission to Make America Healthy Again.”