Press Releases

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) has introduced legislation (H.R. 5562) to allow Congress to appoint members to the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Payment Advisory Commission (MACPAC), which would ensure the integrity and objectivity of Medicaid policy recommendations.  MACPAC commissioners are currently appointed by the Comptroller General, who heads the Government Accountability Office.

“During my time in the House, I have advocated many reforms in the process.  As a part of that, I have continually advocated that any advisory commission or board that reports to Congress should be appointed at least in part by Congress, since these panels ultimately are accountable to Congress.  Allowing the House and Senate to appoint members to commissions or boards that make policy recommendations will help ensure we receive recommendations that are independent, credible, and trustworthy.  Congress would benefit from such objective, data-driven analysis as we continue working to make improvements to the Medicaid program. ”

BACKGROUND:

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment Advisory Commission was created in 2009 to be a nonpartisan board responsible for providing Congress with recommendations for ways to strengthen and sustain the Medicaid and CHIP programs.  Medicaid is the nation’s largest health insurance program, and it continues to grow.  Given that Medicaid is projected to cover more than 98 million people and federal outlays are expected to reach $576 billion by 2025, targeted changes will be needed.  As Congress considers proposals for Medicaid and CHIP reform, we must be able to trust the recommendations we receive free of any political bias.

However, in recent years the objectivity of MACPAC’s members has been called into question due to a lack of policies in place to address conflicts of interest.  If there continues to be a lack of transparency with regard to political and financial conflicts of interest and an imbalance among commissioners, the integrity of MACPAC’s recommendations will be in doubt.

Griffith’s bill will allow both sides of the aisle to contribute to the MACPAC appointment process by requiring appointments be made by those holding majority and minority leadership positions in both the House and Senate.  Additionally, it will require that MACPAC commissioners are held to the same ethics rules as employees of Congress with regard to financial disclosure requirements.

The text of the bill can be found here.

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