Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag Says Agency Will Form Health Care Advisory Panel

A Panel of Health Advisers for the Congressional Budget Office will provide information on the latest health care research and analysis to help the agency expand work on related issues, CBO Director Peter Orszag said on Monday in an interview, CQ HealthBeat reports. The panel -- which includes experts from the academic and health care communities, such as visiting senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute-Brookings Joint Center and former CMS Administrator Mark McClellan; Urban Institute President and former CBO director Robert Reischauer; and Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis -- will hold an initial meeting in May. The panel, which will not issue policy recommendations, will examine issues such as the comparative analysis of medications and treatments, and the expansion of health care information technology. According to Orszag, CBO also will focus on the issue of health care costs, which he called "the fundamental challenge facing the federal government." Orszag said, "I would hope we do something, whatever it is," to address the issue of health care costs, adding, "We need to try different things" and evaluate the results. In the interview, Orszag said a bill (HR 4) passed by the House that would require the HHS secretary to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies under the Medicare prescription drug benefit would not reduce costs because the legislation would not allow the secretary to establish a formulary. He said, "Just showing up and saying 'we're from the government and would like a lower price' doesn't help very much" (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 3/12).