House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) today announced that the Committee on Ways and Means will hold a hearing to examine what impact the health care overhaul will have on Medicare and Medicare beneficiaries.  The hearing will take place on Thursday, February 10, 2011, in 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 A.M.

In view of the limited time available to hear the witness, oral testimony at this hearing will be from the invited witness only.  However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.  A list of invited witnesses will follow.

BACKGROUND:

The health care overhaul enacted last year included one-half trillion dollars in Medicare program savings from 2009-2019.  As a result of these policies, the actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have warned that beneficiaries’ access to care could be jeopardized, nearly 9 in 10 seniors could lose their retiree prescription drug coverage, and millions of seniors are expected to lose their Medicare health plans.

In announcing this hearing, Chairman Camp said, “It is the Committee’s responsibility to oversee the Medicare program and to fully understand the impact the recently enacted health law will have on the seniors and disabled Americans who rely on it.  This hearing will allow the Committee to better understand the challenges created by the Democrats’ health care overhaul so that we can assess what actions may be necessary to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have continued access to needed health care services.”

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:

The hearing will examine the impact of the enactment and implementation of the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (P.L. 111-148) and the “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010” (P.L. 111-152) will have on the Medicare program and its beneficiaries.  

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:

Please Note: Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the informational forms.  From the Committee homepage, https://waysandmeans.house.gov, select “Hearings.”  Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, “Click here to provide a submission for the record.”  Once you have followed the online instructions, submit all requested information.  ATTACH your submission as a Word document, in compliance with the formatting requirements listed below, by the close of business on Thursday, February 24, 2011.  Finally, please note that due to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings.  For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225-1721 or (202) 225-3625.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:

The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.  As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee.  The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines.  Any submission provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below.  Any submission or supplementary item not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

1.       All submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments.  Witnesses and submitters are advised that the Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

2.       Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased.  All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

3.       All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons and/or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.  A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the name, company, address, telephone, and fax numbers of each witness.

The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities.  If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested).  Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.

Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at http://www.waysandmeans.house.gov/.

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