Medicare News
| For Immediate Release: | Contact: |
| Thursday, April 10, 1997 | CMS Office of Public Affairs 202-690-6145 |
For questions about Medicare please call 1-800-MEDICARE or visit www.medicare.gov. |
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TWO MEMBERS APPOINTED TO PROVIDER REIMBURSEMENT REVIEW BOARD
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala announced today that Teresa B. Devine of Austin, Texas, and Henry C. "Bud" Wessman of Bismarck, N.D., have been appointed to the Provider Reimbursement Review Board.
The five-member board considers administrative appeals from Medicare service providers who are dissatisfied with their amount of program payment. Board members generally serve three-year terms.
Devine, who began her term on March 31, fills the vacancy left by Charles Tyler. Wessman, whose term begins May 27, replaces Michael Richards. The terms for Tyler and Richards expired in 1996. Devine's and Wessman's terms will expire in 2000.
Devine is currently a senior financial analyst for the Austin-based Texas Hospital Association. In her position, Devine analyzes current and proposed national and state legislation to determine its impact on hospital reimbursement. In addition, she is responsible for keeping the association's more than 425 member hospitals and health systems informed about Medicare reimbursement issues.
"Teresa Devine has gained considerable expertise in Medicare reimbursement, which will prove very valuable to the review board, from her extensive work as a financial analyst for one of the nation's largest hospital associations," said Bruce C. Vladeck, administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, who oversees the Medicare program.
Prior to her current position, Devine served as the chief financial officer for the East Texas Medical Center-Rusk, an acute care hospital in Rusk, Texas, from 1989 to 1992. She had joined East Texas Medical Center as an accountant in 1987. In addition to her health-care finance experience, Devine has held financial positions in the banking and construction industries. She also served in the U.S. Army in 1976 and 1977.
A fellow in the Healthcare Financial Management Association since 1993, Devine received her bachelor's degree in accounting from Fairmont State College in West Virginia in 1985. She earned a master's degree in business administration from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, in 1995.
Wessman, a former state legislator and mayor, is now the executive director of North Dakota's largest state agency, the Department of Human Services. In that position since 1993, he is in charge of 2,280 employees and a $1 billion biennial budget. He was appointed by Gov. Schafer, and serves in his Cabinet.
"Bud Wessman has done a fine job of providing necessary social services to thousands of North Dakotans," Vladeck said. "His efforts have not only touched the elderly on Medicare, but also he and his state employees work closely with children, families, the disabled and many others. He also has personally trained and worked with approximately 95 percent of the state's physical therapists."
Before entering state government, Wessman was chairman and professor of physical therapy at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine. In 1967, he began the school's physical therapy department, which he chaired until 1993.
Wessman is a former member of the North Dakota House of Representatives, and served two terms as the mayor of Grand Forks, N.D., from 1980-1988. Before becoming mayor, Wessman was a member of the Grand Forks City Council.
Wessman earned a bachelor's degree in physical therapy in 1959 and a master's degree in 1965, both from the University of Minnesota. He received a law degree in 1989 from the University of North Dakota Law School.
