GAO Makes MedPac Appointments
WASHINGTON, DC (June 2, 2021) – Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), today announced the appointment of two new members to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), as well as the reappointment of four current members.
“Congress turns to MedPAC for insights and recommendations on Medicare policy issues,” Dodaro said. “I want to thank the many highly qualified candidates who expressed an interest in serving on the Commission this year. Today’s appointees bring impressive professional qualifications and experiences to the work of MedPAC.”
The newly appointed members are Stacie B. Dusetzina, PhD, Associate Professor of Health Policy and an Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, and Lynn Barr, MPH, Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Caravan Health in Kansas City, MO. Their terms began in May 2021 and will expire in April 2024.
The reappointed members, whose terms will also expire in April 2024, are Marjorie Ginsburg, MPH, Sacramento, CA; Jonathan Jaffery, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, WI; Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD, President of Clinical Services and Chief Medical Officer of HCA in Nashville, TN; and Jaewon Ryu, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer for Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA.
Congress established MedPAC in 1997 to analyze access to care, cost and quality of care, and other key issues affecting Medicare. MedPAC advises Congress on payments to providers in Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service programs and to health plans participating in the Medicare Advantage program. The Comptroller General is responsible for naming new Commission members.
For more information about MedPAC, contact James Mathews, MedPAC’s executive director, at (202) 220-3700. Other calls should be directed to Chuck Young in GAO’s Office of Public Affairs at (202) 512-4800.
Brief biographies of the new commission members follow:
Stacie B. Dusetzina, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and an Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. She has conducted extensive research on topics related to Medicare coverage for prescription drugs, including studies focusing on drug pricing, Medicare Part D benefit design, and Medicare formulary coverage polices. Dr. Dusetzina has served as a committee member for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on the topic “Ensuring Patient Access to Affordable Drug Therapies” and as an expert witness for the Senate Special Committee on Aging. She received her PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and post-doctoral training in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School.
Lynn Barr, MPH, is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Caravan Health, which guides and supports more than 200 health facilities and 20,000 clinicians in value-based payment models, such as accountable care organizations (ACOs). With a background as a Chief Information Officer for a rural hospital, she recruited and organized small rural hospitals across three states to form the first National Rural ACO to help rural providers succeed in value-based payment. Before founding Caravan Health, Ms. Barr led multiple start-up companies dedicated to medical innovation and she holds several patents. Ms. Barr has served on the Government Affairs Committee of the National Rural Health Association. She earned her Master of Public Health in health policy and management from the University of California at Berkeley.
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