A former Kaiser Permanente physician executive has been tapped to lead the 17-member Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the Government Accountability Office announced late last week.
Francis “Jay” Crosson, M.D., spent 35 years as a physician and a physician executive at Oakland, CA-based Kaiser Permanente. He currently serves on the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Crosson formerly served six years as a MedPAC commissioner, including two years as vice chairman.
Crosson succeeds Glenn Hackbarth, whose term ended in April. Hackbarth joined the panel in 2000, was named chairman in 2001 and announced in September he would leave the panel this spring.
The GAO also appointed a UnityPoint Health executive as a new MedPac commissioner. Susan Thompson, MS, RN, senior vice president of integration and optimization with UnityPoint Health and CEO of UnityPoint Health in Fort Dodge, IA, will serve until her term expires in April 2018.
Six commissioners’ terms will expire in 2016 and five commissioners’ terms will expire in April 2017. Congress established MedPAC in 1997 to analyze access to care, cost and quality of care, and other key issues affecting Medicare. MedPAC issue non-binding recommendations to Congress on payments to skilled nursing and other healthcare providers.
