Medicare Panel Members Named

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., Monday named their long-awaited choices for the new National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.

But, despite Monday's deadline for naming members to the panel, neither President Clinton nor House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., have announced their choices for the 17-member commission. Clinton gets to appoint four commissioners, and Gephardt gets two. Nor have Clinton, Gingrich and Lott reached consensus on who will chair the commission, although Lott said in a prepared statement that announcement would be "forthcoming."

The commission was established by this year's balanced budget act, and will have the task of devising a strategy to maintain the long-term solvency of Medicare. It must report its recommendations to the president and Congress by March 1, 1999. Appointments to the commission have been the subject of intense lobbying among involved interest groups.

As his nominees, Gingrich named Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., Commerce Health and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Michael Bilirakis, R-Fla., Rep. Greg Ganske, R-Iowa, who is a physician, and Samuel Howard, chairman of the Phoenix Healthcare Corp. of Tennessee, which provides healthcare services to Medicare. While earlier reports had Gingrich appointing Horace Deets, executive director of the American Association of Retired Persons, Deets was not included on the list Gingrich submitted Monday.

Meanwhile, Lott announced his four nominees are Labor and Human Resources Public Health and Safety Subcommittee Chairman Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Finance Health Subcommittee Chairman Phil Gramm, R-Texas, Illene Gordon, a Medicare recipient and long-time staff assistant in Lott's Mississippi office, and Deborah Steelman, an attorney who chaired the Quadrennial Advisory Council on Social Security from 1989-92.

Steelman was also an associate OMB director in 1986-87 and advised former President Bush on health issues in the 1988 campaign. Frist is a surgeon by profession, and his brother chairs Columbia/HCA, a large hospital chain.

Senate Minority Leader Daschle last month chose Sens. Robert Kerrey, D-Neb., and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., as his nominees.

White House Press Secretary Michael McCurry refused to speculate on when Clinton will name his selections, saying only that the White House intends to make appointments "in due course."

McCurry cited as the reason for the delay last-minute haggling between the Republican leadership and the White House over the appointment of the commission's chairman, which McCurry indicated would affect the Clinton's other choices. The chairmanship must be a joint agreement between Clinton, Gingrich and Lott.

An aide to Gephardt said as long as the president had not picked his nominees, "we're in no hurry. If he doesn't do it today, I doubt we would." The aide lamented the limited size of the panel, saying Gephardt faces a "difficult choice" because there are "too many people for too few spots."

Although the aide said "there's no reason to assume anyone's in" already, he did said "I would assume we'd do all congressional"--as opposed to interest group--nominees to the panel.