April 02,2003

Hearing to Examine Purchasing Health Care in a Competitive Environment

Hearing to Examine Purchasing Health Care Services in a Competitive Environment

Event: Hearing, “Purchasing Health Care Services in a Competitive Environment”
Date/time: Thursday, April 3, 2003, at 9:15 a.m.
Location: 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.

Description: Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, will convene a hearing
to explore how large organizations -- the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, the Department of Defense, and General Motors -- purchase health care services for their beneficiaries. Each entity relies on a type of competitive process that compares health plans’ value for its enrollees. The committee also will hear testimony from a health plan -- Ovations, a UnitedHealth Group Company – about the mechanics and process of bidding for comprehensive health care coverage. The purpose of the hearing is to learn the best practices of competitive bidding that could be applied to Medicare, since several Medicare proposals include a bidding mechanism.

Witness List

Abby L. Block, Senior Advisor for Employee and Family Policy, Office of Personal Management,
Washington, D.C.

Tom Carrato, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Plan Administration and Chief
Operating Officer for the TRICARE Management Activity, Falls Church, Va.

Bruce Bradley, Director of Health Plans Strategy and Public Policy, General Motors, Washington,
D.C.

Lois Quam, CEO, Ovations, UnitedHealth Group Company, Minnetonka, Minn.

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