Democrats Ask GAO for ‘Objective’ View on HCFA Reform

Concerned that Republicans have a "preset agenda" and plan to "liste[n] to lobbyists rather than taxpayers and Medicare beneficiaries" in considering HCFA reform, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 13 asked the General Accounting Office to provide an "objective, informed view on what areas should be reformed," CongressDaily reports. In a letter signed by committee ranking member John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Reps. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.), Democrats acknowledged problems in HCFA's management of Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP programs, but expressed "fear [that] Republicans are moving to privatize the system based on complaints from lobbyists" and not on information from the committee's own research. A spokesperson for Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Billy Tauzin (R-La.) said that Tauzin would welcome "any input GAO can offer in identifying problem areas in HCFA's operations," but dismissed complaints that Republicans have a "preset agenda" for reform. "There's always going to be people they want to invite [to testify] and we don't and people we want to invite that they don't. In the end, Republicans and Democrats will coalesce around a plan that reforms Medicare and shores up benefits," the spokesperson said, adding, "We're working with Democrats in a bipartisan way." Two Energy and Commerce subcommittees began a series of HCFA reform hearings earlier this month that will continue into the future (Fulton, CongressDaily, 3/14).