SECRETARY'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON REGULATORY REFORM
MEETING SUMMARY 

AUDIOCONFERENCE

September 9, 2002
Hubert Humphrey Building, Room 800
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20201

Calling the roll, Dr. Wood established that 18 members of the committee were on the conference call, enough for a quorum. He explained the audioconference procedures to the committee, and noted that the staff was having technical difficulties with the web-based document-sharing program they had hoped to use. He also described the day’s work plan: some items may be approved today, others may be deferred to the October final meeting, and some issues may be put in the category of unfinished work to be taken up later by HHS staff.

The full committee reviewed the reports of its executive committee, which edited and consolidated many of the previously passed recommendations. The full committee approved the changes. A list of the recommendations as approved, along with dissenting votes cast on individual items, can be found on the regulatory reform website at http://www.regreform.hhs.gov.

The committee heard comments from members of the public who called in by phone.

Gwen Tony (spelling unverified) said she had a concern about the process of federal/state coordination for beneficiaries who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. The Medicare program should always be primary in any waiver program, she said, and government guidance should clarify that.

Dr. Edward Siguel, who said he is a specialist in cost-benefit analysis, said the advisory committee had failed to address many of the major inefficiencies in the U.S. health care system. The committee should adopt more sweeping, system-wide changes, including uniform guidelines for consent forms, uniform procedures for how to comply with HIPAA, uniform claims processing, and national medical licensing. All of these would save on administrative costs.

Dr. Wood established a common numbering system for the various subcommittees’ recommendation lists and reviewed the telephone voting procedures. The final status of all recommendations, including vote counts and dissents, is available at the regulatory reform website (http://www.regreform.hhs.gov).

Tony Fay, chairman of the Data & Information subcommittee, introduced his subcommittee’s agenda relating to a pilot study of smart card computer chip technology for Medicare, which the committee approved.

Jack Rovner, Coordination subcommittee chairman, recognized Lisa Gigliotti to address the subcommittee’s recommendations regarding state/federal coordination, which the committee approved.

Suzanne Pattee presented the recommendations of the ad hoc FDA subcommittee, which the committee approved.

Dr. Kern Wildenthal discussed his concerns with the way research institutions and the National Institutes of Health currently negotiate the payment of indirect costs. The committee relayed the recommendation to the Coordination subcommittee for discussion.

1:54 p.m. break

Dr. Wood called roll once again and established that a quorum of committee members was on the call.

Karen Utterback of the Regulatory Flexibility subcommittee presented her committee’s list of recommendations concerning the process by which CMS issues regulations, which the committee approved.

2:43 p.m. Discussion agenda

The committee discussed recommendation 38, which had been moved to the discussion agenda. It concerned CMS coverage policies for new medical technologies, and the committee approved it.

Citing time constraints, Dr. Wood moved the remaining discussion items to the October meeting’s agenda. He thanked the committee and staff for working to put the audioconference together.

Meeting summary prepared by John McCoy, Healthcare Analyst, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.