Notice2022-27263
Membership List and Meeting Dates for the Ground Ambulance and Patient Billing (GAPB) Advisory Committee, January 17-18, 2023
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
December 16, 2022
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Abstract
This notice announces the Membership of the Ground Ambulance and Patient Billing (GAPB) Advisory Committee and a public meeting of the Committee on January 17 and 18, 2023. The GAPB Advisory Committee will make recommendations with respect to disclosure of charges and fees for ground ambulance services and insurance coverage, consumer protection and enforcement authorities of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the Departments) and relevant States, and the prevention of balance billing to consumers. The recommendations shall address options, best practices, and identified standards to prevent instances of balance billing; steps that can be taken by State legislatures, State insurance regulators, State attorneys general, and other State officials as appropriate, consistent with current legal authorities regarding consumer protection; and legislative options for Congress to prevent balance billing.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 241 (Friday, December 16, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 241 (Friday, December 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77122-77123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27263]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
[CMS-9896-N]
Membership List and Meeting Dates for the Ground Ambulance and
Patient Billing (GAPB) Advisory Committee, January 17-18, 2023
AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the Membership of the Ground Ambulance
and Patient Billing (GAPB) Advisory Committee and a public meeting of
the Committee on January 17 and 18, 2023. The GAPB Advisory Committee
will make recommendations with respect to disclosure of charges and
fees for ground ambulance services and insurance coverage, consumer
protection and enforcement authorities of the Departments of Labor,
Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the Departments) and
relevant States, and the prevention of balance billing to consumers.
The recommendations shall address options, best practices, and
identified standards to prevent instances of balance billing; steps
that can be taken by State legislatures, State insurance regulators,
State attorneys general, and other State officials as appropriate,
consistent with current legal authorities regarding consumer
protection; and legislative options for Congress to prevent balance
billing.
DATES:
Virtual Meeting Dates: The GAPB Advisory Committee will hold a
virtual meeting on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 and Wednesday, January 18,
2023, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.
Registration Link: The virtual meeting will be open to the public
and held via the Zoom webinar platform. Virtual attendance information
will be provided upon registration. To register for this virtual
meeting, please visit: <a href="https://priforum.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_YyO3T0-uTj6hZSJ9m2i9tg">https://priforum.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_YyO3T0-uTj6hZSJ9m2i9tg</a>. Attendance is open to the public subject to
any technical or capacity limitations.
Deadline for Registration: All individuals who plan to attend the
virtual public meeting must register to attend. The deadline to
register for the public meeting is Monday, January 16, 2023. Interested
parties are encouraged to register as far in advance of the meeting as
possible. A detailed agenda and materials will be available
approximately 2 days before the meeting on the GAPB Advisory Committee
website at: <a href="https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb">https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb</a>.
A recording of the meeting and a summary of the meeting will be
made available on the GAPB Advisory Committee website within 30
calendar days after the meeting.
ADDRESSES: Virtual Meeting Location: The January 17 and 18, 2023,
public meeting will be held virtually via Zoom only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shaheen Halim, CMS, by phone (410)
786-0641 or via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d3b4b2a3b1b2b7a5baa0bca1aab0bcbebebaa7a7b6b693b0bea0fdbbbba0fdb4bca5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4f282e3f2d2e2b39263c203d362c202222263b3b2a2a0f2c223c6127273c61282039">[email protected]</span></a>. Press
inquiries may be submitted by phone (202) 690-6145 or via email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d9a9abbcaaaa99bab4aaf7b1b1aaf7beb6af"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="94e4e6f1e7e7d4f7f9e7bafcfce7baf3fbe2">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 117(a) of the No Surprises Act, enacted as part of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, div. BB, tit. I, Public Law 116-
260 (Dec. 27, 2020), requires the Secretaries of Labor, HHS, and the
Treasury to establish and convene an advisory committee for the purpose
of reviewing options to improve the disclosure of charges and fees for
ground ambulance services, better inform consumers of insurance options
for such services, and protect consumers from balance billing. The GAPB
Advisory Committee is governed by the provisions of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (FACA), Public Law 92-463 (Oct. 6, 1972), as
amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 2.
[[Page 77123]]
II. Advisory Committee Membership Roster
On November 23, 2021, HHS published a Notice of Charter and
Invitation for Member Nominations in the Federal Register for the GAPB
Advisory Committee (86 FR 66565 through 66566). HHS received a total of
52 complete member nominations from the public by December 13, 2021.
The nominees were evaluated by the Departments for alignment with the
membership categories required under Section 117 of the No Surprises
Act, their professional qualifications, recognition by the ground
ambulance and emergency medical services community, years of relevant
experience, experience with State or Federal committees on related
issues, and expertise in subject matter to be addressed by the
committee. The Departments also considered membership balance as
required by FACA, and as appropriate to address health equity issues
pertaining to ground ambulance consumer balance billing, and ground
ambulance services in underserved communities.
The 17 Members of the GAPB Advisory Committee are:
<bullet> Asbel Montes--Committee Chairperson; Additional Representative
determined necessary and appropriate by the Secretaries
<bullet> Ali Khawar--Secretary of Labor's Designee
<bullet> Thomas West--Secretary of Treasury's Designee
<bullet> Rogelyn McLean--Secretary of Health and Human Services'
Designee
<bullet> Gamunu Wijetunge--Department of Transportation--National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration
<bullet> Suzanne Prentiss--State Insurance Regulators
<bullet> Adam Beck--Health Insurance Providers
<bullet> Patricia Kelmar--Consumer Advocacy Groups
<bullet> Gary Wingrove--Patient Advocacy Groups
<bullet> Ayobami Ogunsola--State and Local Governments
<bullet> Ritu Sahni--Physician specializing in emergency, trauma,
cardiac, or stroke
<bullet> Peter Lawrence--State Emergency Medical Services Officials
<bullet> Shawn Baird--Emergency Medical Technicians, Paramedics, and
Other Emergency Medical Services Personnel
<bullet> Edward Van Horne--Representative of Various Segments of the
Ground Ambulance Industry
<bullet> Regina Godette-Crawford--Representative of Various Segments of
the Ground Ambulance Industry
<bullet> Rhonda Holden--Representative of Various Segments of the
Ground Ambulance Industry
<bullet> Loren Adler--Additional Representative determined necessary
and appropriate by the Secretaries
The GAPB Committee Roster will also be posted on the GAPB website
at: <a href="https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb">https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb</a>.
III. Meeting Agenda
The first meeting of the GAPB Advisory Committee will occur on
January 17 and 18, 2023. During this meeting, the Committee will gather
background information on the No Surprises Act, the ground ambulance
industry, insurance and billing practices, and consumer issues such as
disclosure of fees and balance billing, prior to discussing potential
subcommittees and focus areas. The agenda will cover the following
topics:
<bullet> No Surprises Act overview
<bullet> Overview of the ground ambulance industry
<bullet> Insurance and ground ambulance payment systems
<bullet> Ground ambulance billing practices
<bullet> Disclosure of charges to consumers, separation of charges and
cost shifting
<bullet> Impact of balance billing on consumers and current consumer
protections
<bullet> Balance billing prevention, including potential legislative
and regulatory options
A more detailed agenda and materials will be made available
approximately 2 days before the meeting on the GAPB website (listed
above).
IV. Public Participation
This meeting will be open to the public. Attendance may be limited
due to virtual meeting constraints. Interested parties are encouraged
to register as far in advance of the meeting as possible. To register
for the meeting, please visit: <a href="https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb">https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb</a>. CMS is committed to providing equal access to
this meeting for all participants and to ensuring Section 508
compliance. Closed captioning will be provided. If you need alternative
formats or services because of a disability, such as sign language
interpreter or other ancillary aids, please contact the person listed
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
V. Submitting Written Comments
Members of the public may submit written comments on subject matter
under committee deliberation prior to the webinar via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d0b7b1a0b2b1b4a6b9a3bfa2a9b3bfbdbdb9a4a4b5b590b3bda3feb8b8a3feb7bfa6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9afdfbeaf8fbfeecf3e9f5e8e3f9f5f7f7f3eeeeffffdaf9f7e9b4f2f2e9b4fdf5ec">[email protected]</span></a>. Comments must be submitted via email
no later than January 3, 2023. During the virtual meeting, members of
the public will have the opportunity to submit comments through the
chat feature of the webinar platform. These comments will be compiled
for future consideration by the committee.
V. Viewing Documents
You may view the documents discussed in this notice at <a href="https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb">https://www.cms.gov/regulations-guidance/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-ground-ambulance-and-patient-billing-gapb</a>.
The Administrator of CMS, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, having reviewed
and approved this document, authorizes Lynette Wilson, who is the
Federal Register Liaison, to electronically sign this document for
purposes of publication in the Federal Register.
Dated: December 12, 2022.
Lynette Wilson,
Federal Register Liaison, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
[FR Doc. 2022-27263 Filed 12-13-22; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P
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