"PPAC has been critical in the past couple years, and it's going to be more critical going forward." Jon Blum, director of CMS's Center for Medicare Management, on March 8, 2010 to open the quarterly Practicing Physicians Advisory Council (PPAC) meeting in Baltimore, Md.
"Therefore, the PPAC is being discontinued and the June meeting will not be held." CMS's PPAC website currently states.
PPAC's input on the Medicare program is no longer required at CMS. The new health care reform law repealed the section of the Social Security Act establishing the 15-member panel of working physicians from around the country. The disbanding falls under the "Focusing CMS Resources on Potentially Overvalued Codes" section of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
The announcement of PPAC's demise has come as a bit of a shock. And, judging by Blum's comments, CMS was likely caught off guard, too. PPAC's website says it was last updated on April 30, more than a month after PPACA was signed into law.
PPAC was a voice inside CMS for physicians billing Medicare. However, the council lacked power to make significant changes. For example, it adopted a non-binding resolution to delay the elimination of consultation billing, but CMS went ahead and deleted consults without any further delay.
CMS says public comment on Medicare regulations, open door forums and other outreach initiatives will fill PPAC's void.