Master Plan

Citizens’ Health Care Working Group Master Plan November 2005

Master Plan—November 2005 Schedule Budget Community Meetings Questions for America Recommendations External Communications

Schedule

Master Schedule Working Group appointed February 28, 2005 Hearings conducted May 11 – August 17, 2005 Health Report to the American People issued October 6, 2005 Hold Community Meetings December 10, 2005 – April 2006 Develop interim recommendations December 14 – May 15, 2006 Issue interim recommendations May 15, 2006 Public comment period on interim recommendations May 15 – August 14, 2006 Issue final recommendations to the President and Congress September 29, 2006 President submits recommendations to Congress October 13, 2006 Congress conducts hearings Early 2007

Working Group Appointed Hearings Report Questions for America Community Meetings Interim Recommendations Public Comment Period Final Recommendations Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep 2005  2006  2/28 5/118/17 10/6 4/14 12/104/14 12/145/15 8/14 6/1 9/29

Scheduling Issues Community meetings—crammed into short timeframe December-January: 6 meetings February-mid April: 30 meetings Development of recommendations--overlaps period of citizen input Schedule for development of recommendations involves extremely short turnarounds for decision making and report writing Final recommendations—developmental work must begin before all public comments are in

Scheduling Options Extend the Life of the Working Group Move Date of Issuance of Preliminary Recommendations Conduct Community Meetings After Preliminary Recommendations Are Issued

Extend Life of Working Group Authorization of appropriations ends September 30, 2006 Legislation would be needed to continue beyond this date Obtaining an extension would be difficult:: Few legislative vehicles available—probably only the upcoming appropriations bill Budget and legislative culture not generally amenable to such requests. A budget increase is unlikely; the best that could be hoped for probably is a no cost extension The outcome is uncertain, so we would still need to work under current deadlines while requesting an extension

PROS and Cons of Seeking an Extension PROS: An extension would provide a more orderly execution of the program It would rationalize the relationship of the schedules for community meetings, interim recommendations, and final recommendations by allowing more time for meetings and analysis of results. CONS A no cost extension would require a budget/schedule adjustment—e.g., spreading out Working Group meetings rather than having more of them Making the case for an extension will consume staff resources, detracting from current work

Specific Proposal Should the Working Group wish to request an extension, staff would recommend a 3 month extension One month would be added to the periods available for each of the 3 major future activities (community meetings, and interim and final recommendations), thereby providing more time to complete each one and reducing the overlap between them. Community meetings end May 15 Interim recommendations issued July 15 Public comment period ends October 15 Final recommendations issued December 31 The ending date would be December 31, 2005 This would result in final recommendations being issued right before the new Congress convenes

Report Questions for America Community Meetings Interim Recommendations Public Comment Period Final Recommendations Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan 2005  2006  2007  10/6 5/15 12/105/15 12/147/15 10/15 9/1512/31

Other Scheduling Options Move Date of Issuance of Preliminary Recommendations The schedule presented here incorporates such a change. Based on staff analysis of the process needed for developing recommendations, we recommend moving the date of issuance of preliminary recommendations from May 1 to May 15, This will be discussed more thoroughly at the meeting on that subject Conduct Community Meetings After Preliminary Recommendations Are Issued The idea of conducting community meetings after preliminary recommendations are issued will be discussed at the meeting on community meetings

Budget

Budget Status FY 2005 FY 2006 Authorization: $3,000,000$3,000,000 Appropriated: 2,976, ,880 Status: For FY 2006 we are operating under a continuing resolution which ends November 16. We are awaiting word on next stage—another continuing resolution, or appropriation Restrictions apply to procurements during continuing resolutions However, we are authorized to use unspent FY 2005 funds in 2006 and to procure contractor assistance on an incremental basis.

Budget Review and Adjustments It is likely that our budget will need to be adjusted to reflect a number of evolving factors: More recent cost estimates Reconciliation of actual versus planned expenditures Congressional action on the FY 2006 budget Decisions from the Working Group based on discussions at this November Working Group meeting, including such matters as Overall schedule for completing the Working Group’s program Additional community meetings Budget set-aside for Member meetings Budget set-aside for Member presentations Staff will present a revised budget at the December Working Group meeting.

The following components of the Master Plan will be completed based on decisions of the Working Group at this meeting Community Meetings Questions for America Recommendations External Communications