§299c Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality

Summary

Creates the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality to advise the Secretary and the Agency Director about the Agency’s work. The Council must recommend research priorities (like quality, outcomes, cost, use, and access), advise on training and sharing of information, and suggest the right role for the Agency given private sector work and chances for public-private partnerships. The Secretary must appoint 21 qualified people. At least 17 must be non‑federal public representatives and at least one must know about rural health. The 21 include seven groups of three people each covering: research and evaluations, quality improvement, practicing physicians (at least one primary care), other health professions, private health sector or health system managers, experts in economics/information/law/ethics/business/public policy, and patient and consumer representatives. Certain federal officials are ex officio members (no extra council pay): Assistant Secretary for Health; Director of the National Institutes of Health; Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; Director of the Office of Personnel Management; Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs); and Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs, plus any other Federal officials the Secretary names. Appointed members serve 3‑year terms, with the first group staggered for 1, 2, or 3 years so one‑third rotate each year. Members may stay until a successor is named, and replacements serve the rest of the term. The Agency Director picks a chair from the appointed members. The Council must meet at least once every four months and more often if needed. Appointed members may be paid a per‑day amount up to the daily rate of Executive Schedule level IV (under section 5315 of title 5); ex officio members get no extra pay. The Director must provide staff and help, and the Council continues unless a later law ends it.