For
Release: February 18, 2003
FTC/DOJ Release Agenda for First
Session of Health Care Hearings
The Federal Trade Commission
and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have released a detailed
final agenda for the opening session of their hearings on health
care and competition law and policy, to be held from February
26-28, 2003. The two agencies will hold a total of 30 days of
hearings over the next seven months. Additional information is
located on the FTC's Web site at
http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/healthcarehearings/
and on the DOJ's Web site at
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/hchearing.htm.
The initial set of hearings
will feature representatives of the FTC; the DOJ; the Department
of Health & Human Services; the academic community; and the
provider, payor, and employer communities.
On Wednesday, February 26,
2003, the hearings will commence with short remarks by
representatives of the FTC and the DOJ, a keynote address by
Thomas Scully, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services, and presentations by several academic
experts.
On Thursday, February 27, 2003,
two panel discussions will offer an array of perspectives on
competition policy and the health care marketplace, with
additional presentations by academic experts. On Friday,
February 28, 2003, two panels will discuss the performance of
the health care marketplace in Boston, MA, and Little Rock, AR,
with further presentations by academic experts. Each panel will
consist of approximately six invited panelists, each of whom
will speak for seven to 10 minutes. A moderated discussion will
follow the presentations. Each panel has been given a series of
questions to provide a general framework for presentations and
discussion.
The hearings will be held on
Wednesday, February 26, 2003 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., on
Thursday, February 27, 2003 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on
Friday, February 28, 2003 from 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The
hearings will be held in the FTC Conference Center at 601 New
Jersey Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20580.
As stated in the Federal
Register notice announcing this event, any interested person may
submit written comments in response to any of the topics to be
addressed. Comments directed at a particular subject considered
during a particular session of hearings must be submitted no
later than 45 days after the date of
that specific hearing session. Comments on broader subjects
within the general scope of the hearings may be submitted at any
time after the publication of this notice, but no later than
November 28, 2003.
Written comments should be
submitted in both hard copy and electronic form. Six hard copies
of each submission should be addressed to Donald S. Clark,
Office of the Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Submissions
should be captioned: "Comments Regarding Hearings on Health Care
and Competition Law and Policy." Electronic submissions may be
sent by electronic mail to
healthcare@ftc.gov. Alternatively, electronic submissions
may be filed on a 3-1/2 inch computer disk with a label stating
the name of the submitter and the name and version of the word-
processing program used to create the document.
Information about the health
care hearings is available from the Web site for the hearings,
http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/healthcarehearings/
or
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/hchearing.htm
and from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130,
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Angela
Wilson is the staff assistant for the workshop. She may be
reached by e-mail at:
awilson@ftc.gov or 202-326-3190.
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