170 nominees vie for 12-15 POAC slots

August 23, 2004 BALTIMORE - After screening and evaluation, CMS officials recently sent 170 nominations for the Program Oversight Advisory Committee (POAC) to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson who will finalize the selections. “It's going up the internal review process now,” one CMS official said last week. “We can't give any time on it, but it's getting there.” The eventual 12-15 members of the POAC will help to organize the national competitive bidding program for DME that begins in 2007. CMS officials called for nominations from a broad array of groups, including suppliers, physicians, manufacturers, beneficiaries, professional standards organizations, financial standards specialists, data management specialists, association representatives and experts in shipping fragile medical materials. Officials plan to convene a first face-to-face meeting of the POAC in October.