Not many people are aware that CMS requires each Contractor Advisory Committee to allow for a Beneficiary to be a member of that state's CAC. Section 13.8.1.2 of the Program Integrity Manual reads "The CAC is to be composed of physicians, a beneficiary representative, and representatives of medical organizations." This doesn't mean they have to go out of their way to recruit one, and I suspect many don't. However, if your state's CAC doesn't have a Beneficiary Member, I suspect they're almost certainly going to accept "
To Whom It May Concern: <u5:p> </u5:p>I would like to volunteer to be J5's Carrier Advisory Committee Beneficiary Representative. I retired recently and have been enrolled in Medicare as a consumer for about 1 ½ years at the present time. I have some familiarity of the LCD process as a result of my career. Sincerely, Michael Bohl." I attached an abbreviated CV to the email as required by the application instructions. A few of weeks later I received a email congratulating me on being accepted as the Beneficiary Representative.
I would encourage others with this type of policy interest to consider pursuing the Beneficiary position for their state's CAC. They meet quarterly via video conference. The times are set by each CAC.
Don't expect too much from the experience. Radiology policies are few and far between in recent years. However, I'm still a big believer in supporting radiology and this an easy way to keep involved. I'm going to try to provide a "beneficiary" perspective to the discussions as appropriate, more than the radiology only perspective - but those aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, either. This is also a good networking opportunity. In fact, I called one of the CMD's today and had a 20-minute conversation on their Chronic Care Management initiative.
Whether you work for a radiology group, a billing company, or a medical coding company, it may be worth exploring if an opportunity exists in your CAC region.
Mike Bohl
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Michael Bohl FRBMA
Retired
Radiology Group, PC, SC
Bettendorf IA
(563) 484-0488
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