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Original source unknown Talk of HCFA reorganization WASHINGTON, D.C. — The new Chair of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, Rep Nancy Johnson (R-CT) has clearly spoken about her desire to "reorganize" HCFA. In an interview with Inside HCFA, Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) said that she is considering making organizational changes to HCFA. She believes the agency is facing major organizational and technological problems and suggested that more resources may be necessary, much like the IRS required additional resources when Congress changed its structure. She also said that a Medicare prescription drug benefit remains a top priority, but reinforced the idea the concept put forth in the House Republican prescription drug bill last year that HCFA would not be in charge of running that benefit. She said, "HCFA hasn't been able to manage anything" and criticized its track record on fraud and abuse and its delayed implementation of the hospital outpatient PPS system. (Inside HCFA,Vol.4, No.2 - January 18, 2001). On the same day that this article was printed, it was reported that Senators on the Senate HELP Committee, during the confirmation hearings for the now-confirmed Secretary of HHS Tommy Thompson, made clear their desire for HCFA reform. Five Senators characterized HCFA as a mess" and not responsive enough to beneficiaries. Thompson reportedly vowed to work closely with them in solving that and other problems. Leading Candidates for HCFA Administrator Some of the latest names being discussed as possible HCFA Administrators include Christine Ferguson, the current Administrator of Rhode Island's RIteCare and former senior health staffer for the late Senate Finance Committee moderate Republican Sen. John Chaffee; Bobby Jindal, former Executive Director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare and previous Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health; Ruben King-Shaw, head of Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration (ACHA). Shaw was Senior Vice President of the New Ventures Division of John Alden Health Inc. (1993-1995). Prior to that, he was director of the JMH Health Plan, an integrated delivery system operated by a partnership of the Public Health Trust of Dade County and the University of Miami School of Medicine; and Tom Scully, formerly a top health official in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), currently President of the Federation of American Hospitals.
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