News Briefs: Government Updates

This roundup includes the following brief government updates:

By a vote of 65-31, the Senate has approved former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as the new HHS secretary. Sebelius' confirmation fills a key cabinet position in the Obama administration, which is pushing for the enactment of comprehensive health care reform legislation this year.

As HHS secretary, Sebelius will lead the agency that oversees both Medicare and Medicaid. She served as the governor of Kansas for the past seven years and is a former state insurance commissioner.

The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, is seeking public comment on a proposed breach notification rule for electronic health information. The FTC took the action to comply with language in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which includes provisions to speed the implementation of health information technology and to strengthen privacy and security protections for personal health information.

In an April 16 press release, the FTC provides a link to the 50-page proposed rule. The rule would require vendors of personal health records and related entities to provide notice to consumers when the security of their individually identifiable health information is breached. The proposal contains additional standards for what would trigger a breach notification, as well as the timing, delivery method and content of such a notice.

The FTC press release also links to a document with instructions on how to file comments; all public comments must be received by June 1.

CMS has restarted a competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, or DME, that was postponed last summer after suppliers whose bids were rejected raised concerns about the fairness of the bidding process.

According to a CMS press release, there will be no immediate effect on the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies, or DMEPOS, benefits, and Medicare beneficiaries may continue to use their current DMEPOS suppliers at this time. CMS said it will issue further guidance in the upcoming weeks on the timeline for and requirements related to the round one DME rebidding process.

President Obama has appointed Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra to be the nation's first chief technology officer.

Chopra, who has served as Virginia secretary of technology since 2006, joins a small group of advisers within the Obama administration whose goal is to enhance and modernize the delivery of government services. He is a former managing director with the Advisory Board Company, a for-profit health care think tank serving nearly 2,500 hospitals and health systems.

Obama also appointed former management consultant and executive Jeffrey Zients to be chief performance officer. Zients is the founder and managing partner of Portfolio Logic, an investment firm primarily focused on business and health care service companies.