Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Named to Congressional Budget Office Panel Of Health Care Advisers

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 14, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Insurance Department announced today that Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller has been named to the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) Panel of Health Care Advisers. In this position, Commissioner Miller will continue to emphasize the Wolf Administration's consumer protection initiatives as she offers advice on federal health care policies.

"This position will give me the opportunity to offer input on the potential impact that various federal policies and proposed legislation may have on Pennsylvania's health care consumers, and make sure that the consumer's voice is heard as the CBO prepares its financial analysis of federal programs, laws, and bills before Congress," Commissioner Miller said.

Commissioner Miller is one of 21 members of this panel, which the CBO describes as "widely recognized authorities…who meet to discuss important analytical issues in their areas of expertise and to advise the agency on its analyses." The CBO is a strictly nonpartisan federal agency, which conducts objective, impartial analysis of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process.

The CBO says that its panels of advisers are selected to represent a variety of perspectives to the agency so that it can gather information and insights from experts with diverse views, as well as from the interactions between those experts at panel meetings.

"As the federal government continues to look at ways to improve the health care system and control health care spending, it is critical that they understand what is happening in markets across the country and how consumers are being affected," Commissioner Miller said.

Commissioner Miller noted that her perspective as a state insurance regulator, in an administration with a top priority of consumer protection, gives her the opportunity to offer valuable advice to the CBO and provide insight into how federal policy impacts health insurance markets across the country and what those effects mean for consumers.

The Panel of Health Advisers' members include academics with expertise in the areas of health care, economics, insurance, and medicine, insurance industry executives, and state government officials.  Commissioner Miller is the only state insurance commissioner currently on the panel.  Members are appointed for three year terms.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Ron Ruman, 717-787-3289

SOURCE Pennsylvania Insurance Department