Dr. Betty Rambur will help analyze access to care, cost and quality of care, and other key issues affecting Medicare

University of Rhode Island College of Nursing Professor Betty Rambur has been appointed as a commissioner on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which holds a powerful role in advising Congress on Medicare policy.

Dr. Rambur, the College’s Routhier Endowed Chair for Practice and Professor of Nursing, joins Harvard Medical School Professor of Health Care Policy Michael Chernew, and President and Professor of Internal Medicine and Health Policy and Management at the State University of New York Wayne Riley on the commission, announced Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Congress established MedPAC in 1997 to analyze access to care, cost and quality of care, and other key issues affecting Medicare. MedPAC advises Congress on payments to providers in Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service programs and to health plans participating in the Medicare Advantage program. The Comptroller General is responsible for naming new commission members.

Rambur has been a national leader in health policy and health reform for 25 years. She is a recognized leader in the area of workforce redesign within alternative payment models and a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She served as the only nurse on Vermont’s Green Mountain Care Board, which regulates health care in Vermont and provides oversight of the transition from fee-for-service to value-based care. Her particular focus is population health, reducing disparities and overtreatment, cost containment and reconceptualized models of care, including primary care nursing and e-connected/virtual care.

“I am thrilled to be appointed to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission,” Rambur said. “It is truly an honor to join this distinguished Commission and staff as we grapple with the complex challenges of Medicare payment and policy. I am eager to lend my experience and expertise as we collectively advise Congress in its critical efforts to analyze and implement Medicare policy in the best interests of the nation.”

Previously, Rambur led North Dakota’s statewide health reform efforts that resulted in omnibus health reform legislation. Her 2015 book, Health Care Finance, Economics, and Policy for Nurses, provides a user-friendly guide to support nurses’ effectiveness and contributions to organizations in rapid transition in response to evolving financial and reimbursement incentives. A second edition is slated for 2021.