Citizens' Health Care Working Group

The Citizens' Health Care Working Group (CHCWG) was charged with listening to the opinions of the general public about how the government can make health care work better for all Americans. For over 15 month, the working group travelled the country, holding public meetings, and then devised a roadmap for change based on this commentary. Their recommendations were submit to Congress and the President in Fall 2006. By creating the working group through Section 1014 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, Congress bound itself to take action on the final results, meaning the President must comment and Congress must hold hearings on these recommendations.

The Working Group invited individuals across the country to provide feedback on the following four questions:
 * 1) What health care services do you want?
 * 2) How do you want those services provided?
 * 3) How do you want those services financed?
 * 4) What trade-offs are you willing to make?

People participated by attending community meeting, answering an online Health Care Poll, holding their own community meetings and sending in the results and participating in online blogs and discussion boards.

Community Meetings
The Citizens Health Care Working Group had over 35 Community Meetings from January-June 2006. These highly interactive meetings typically ran 4 hours, and were hosted by either the Public Forum Insitute or AmericaSpeaks. Seated around tables of ten, individuals participated in small table discussions and voted on electronic keypads. They also participated in discussions involving the entire group, ranging in size from 100-300 people.

The Working Group also encouraged groups to hold their own Community Meeting by downloading the Community Meeting kit located on their website.

The Health Care Poll
The Citizens' Health Care Working Group also invites people to participate in this process by answering a short health care poll. This allows individuals to share their input with the Working Group for consideration for the final recommendations. The Health Care Poll results can be found on the web at www.citizenshealthcare.gov.

Required Governmental Action
A report from this group is due to both the Congress and the President by September, 2006.

This group is distinguished from other health care efforts because the law that created it requires the President to respond to the recommendations, and requires the following five Congressional committees to hold hearings on them:
 * Finance
 * Energy and Commerce
 * HELP
 * Ways and Means
 * Education and the Workforce

Selection of the Working Members
As set forth in Public Law 108-173, Sec. 1014, the Working Group is made up of 14 members selected by Comptroller General of the United States, David Walker. By law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) serves as the 15th member. Comptroller General Walker chose the 14 members of the Working Group from among more than 530 applicants; the selections were announced Feb. 28, 2005.

None of the appointees are current or former elected officials or registered lobbyists. In addition, only one of the 14 appointees is from the Washington, D.C. area. The members represent many regions of the country and a broad range of health care perspectives, including consumers, providers, employers and workers. The appointments include people with personal experience or expertise in paying for benefits and issues of access to care.

Working Group Members
Frank J. Baumeister, Jr., of Portland, Oregon, is a physician specializing in gastroenterology and in private practice since 1970. He is past president of the Oregon Medical Association and past chairman of the Oregon Health Resources Commission. Dr. Baumeister has been involved with the Oregon Health Plan Medicaid program, and he is now in private practice with the Northwest Gastroenterology Clinic in Portland and is a Clinical Professor at Oregon Health Sciences University. He received his M.D. from University of Miami.

Dorothy A. Bazos of Concord, New Hampshire, is a registered nurse who works as a health policy consultant and an adjunct professor at Dartmouth College. She currently develops grants for local clinics and social service agencies to help improve access for Medicaid eligible populations, including refugees and immigrants. Bazos also led a project in New Hampshire for children with chronic health conditions to maximize access and payment of health and social services through Medicaid. Before joining the Dartmouth faculty, Bazos was the associate director for veterans' rural health initiatives in Vermont. She has a Ph.D. from Dartmouth Medical School, an R.N. from St. Joseph's Hospital, and a B.A. from American International College.

Montye S. Conlan of Ormond Beach, Florida, is an advocate for the disabled and runs a support group for persons with multiple sclerosis. She is the founder of a one-stop MS center at the Ormond Beach YMCA that educates people on how to live well with the disease. Previously, she was an award-winning science teacher. Conlan received a sci-mat fellowship from the Council for Basic Education in 1993 and a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Math Teaching in 1995. Conlan holds an undergraduate degree from George Washington University.

Richard G. Frank of Boston, Massachusetts, is a professor of health economics at Harvard University Medical School. His recent research has focused on the economics of mental health and substance abuse care; the economics of the pharmaceutical industry; and the organization and financing of physician group practices. Frank is a member of the Institute of Medicine and serves on its behavioral sciences board. He advises several state mental health and substance abuse agencies on issues involving managed care and financing of care. He has a Ph.D. in economics from Boston University and a B.A. from Bard College.

Joseph T. Hansen of Rockville, Maryland, is president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents more than 1.4 million employees in the retail, meat packing, poultry, food processing, manufacturing, and health-care industries and the garment, textile, and distillery trades. The union negotiates hundreds of employment contracts each year involving wages, health care, and pension benefits. Hansen serves as a member of the leadership council of the Change to Win coalition of labor unions and is the president of the Union Network International (UNI), a federation of global unions.

Therese A. Hughes of Newbury Park, California, is a government relations and legislative analyst at the Venice Family Clinic, the largest free clinic in the United States. Her outreach efforts to government officials and the public have sought to bring attention to the challenges facing the providers of primary health care to the uninsured. Hughes served as the chair of the Ventura County Grand Jury's Health, Education, and Welfare Committee and was a board member of the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara, California. She has a M.A. from the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research.

Brent C. James of Salt Lake City, Utah, is a physician and vice president of Intermountain Health Care, a large integrated health care delivery system that includes 22 hospitals and more than 100 outpatient clinics. He oversees care management protocols and outcomes tracking, working with doctors and nurses to improve patient outcomes while reducing the costs of care. He has 25 years of experience in care delivery and quality improvement research, writing and speaking extensively about clinical improvement, cost control, and health reform. Dr. James also works as a clinical professor at the University of Utah Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and the University of Sydney.

Randall L. Johnson of Naperville, Illinois, has more than 30 years of experience in corporate benefits. For the last 22 years, he has worked at Motorola, where he led the design of health care benefits for Motorola employees, retirees, and their families. He has been Motorola's director of human resources strategic initiatives since 2000 and has acted as the company's spokesperson on human resources matters. Johnson has served on the boards of the ERISA Industry Committee and the American Benefits Council and is a member of various Business Roundtable committees. He has also worked with the Human Resources Policy Association Affordable Coalition, whose goal is to extend coverage to the uninsured, and has served as an employer advisor to the Wye River Group, which seeks solutions to extend, improve, and market health care coverage. Johnson holds a B.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Michael O. Leavitt, of Washington, D.C., is the 20th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, having been sworn into office on January 26, 2005. As Secretary, he leads national efforts to protect the health of all Americans and provide essential human services to those in need. Prior to his current service, Leavitt served as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Governor of Utah. While at EPA, Leavitt signed the Clean Air Diesel Rule, implemented new, more-protective air quality standards for ozone and fine particle pollution and organized a regional collaboration of national significance to clean and protect the Great Lakes. Mike Leavitt was elected governor three times. He was chosen by his peers as Chairman of the National Governors Association, Western Governors Association and Republican Governors Association. Born February 11, 1951, in Cedar City, Utah, Leavitt graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics and business from Southern Utah University. He served as president and chief executive officer of a regional insurance firm, establishing it as one of the top insurance brokers in America.

As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt serves as the 15th member of the Working Group by law.

Patricia A. Maryland of Carmel, Indiana, is a hospital administrator with extensive experience in the health care sector. She has worked in various capacities and at several health care facilities, including the Cleveland Clinic and Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit. Maryland is now president of St. Vincent Hospitals and Health Services, Inc., in central Indiana. St. Vincent, by partnering with other local safety net providers, created a comprehensive integrated delivery network in 7 rural Indiana communities that found primary care home for almost 3000 people and reduced inappropriate emergency room use by 20 percent. St. Vincent is a member of Ascension Health, the nation’s largest Catholic and nonprofit health system. Consistent with its mission to serve all people with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable, Ascension Health is an innovative leader in transforming healthcare through patient-centered, holistic care of the highest clinical quality. Maryland holds a doctorate degree in public health from the University of Pittsburgh.

Catherine G. McLaughlin of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a health economist with more than 21 years of research experience. She is currently a professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan, where she also serves as the Director of the Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured. Previously, she served on the faculty of Tufts University and worked at Georgetown University's Center for Health Policy Studies. McLaughlin has evaluated several health care programs for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and has reviewed Michigan's Medicaid managed care demonstrations. She is a member of the Council on Health Care Economics and Policy and the executive committee of the American Society of Health Economists. McLaughlin has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She earned her undergraduate degree from Randolph-Macon Women's College.

Rosario Perez of San Antonio, Texas, is a registered nurse and the Vice President of Mission Integration and Outreach Services for CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health Care. She was recently honored as the first woman to be named Humanitarian of the Year by the HCC Hispanic Education Leadership Committee. Perez previously served as director of community outreach at CHRISTUS St. Joseph Hospital of Houston, where she ran a mobile health clinic serving undocumented workers, the elderly, and the indigent. She has served on the Houston Mayor's Hispanic Advisory Committee, and was a founding member of the Hispanic Health Coalition of Houston. She has worked with the Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas to increase community participation in clinical studies. Perez also works as a diabetes educator for the blind. In 2004, the Houston Chronicle chose her as one of Houston's top 10 nurses. She holds an undergraduate degree in sociology.

Aaron Shirley of Jackson, Mississippi, is a physician and an associate professor in pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dr. Shirley has led several innovative efforts to deliver health care to medically underserved residents of Mississippi, including a one-stop health care facility in Jackson. He serves on the boards of the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, Tougaloo College, and the Delta Health Cooperative and is a member of the Institute of Medicine. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship in 1993. Dr. Shirley received his undergraduate degree from Tougaloo College and his M.D. from Meharry Medical School.

Deborah R. Stehr of Lake View, Iowa, is a health care advocate and is a full-time care giver for her adult son Jonathan, who has cerebral palsy. On the basis of her extensive first-hand experience with the health care system, Governor Tom Vilsack appointed her to Iowa's Health Consumer Advisory Council. Stehr has also served on the boards of the Iowa Citizen Action Network and USAction.

Christine L. Wright of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has been a registered nurse for 28 years. She has clinical expertise in emergency nursing, oncology and nephrology. In addition to her nursing credentials, Wright has a Masters degree in public administration.

Group Leadership
From among the 14, Walker selected Randall L. Johnson to serve as chairman of the Working Group, and Catherine G. McLaughlin as vice chair.