Mon Health System CEO Named to Prestigious Federal Advisory Panel

David Goldberg, President and CEO of Mon Health System with Facilities in Morgantown and throughout North Central West Virginia, was selected to serve a two-year term on a top federal health care advisory committee.

Goldberg's service on the Advisory Panel on Outreach and Education (APOE) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began June 1, 2019 and will end on June 1, 2021. David was officially sworn in as a member of the panel during the July 16, 2019 meeting in Washington, D.C. Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito and Reps. David McKinley and Alex X. Mooney supported Goldberg's successful nomination.

"The challenges of meeting our growing and diverse health care needs are quite complex, so I am pleased that CMS and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are seeking input from people who are on the front lines of health care delivery," said Goldberg. "This is the perfect opportunity to share my experiences in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas and continue to work to ensure health care is accessible and affordable to the communities it serves."

Goldberg and others on the panel will advise the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the CMS Administrator regarding optimal strategies for the following:

• Developing and implementing education and outreach programs for individuals enrolled in, or eligible for, Medicare, Medicaid, and the CHIP, or coverage available through the Health Insurance Marketplace and other CMS programs;
• Enhancing the federal government's effectiveness in informing Health Insurance Marketplace, Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP consumers, issuers, providers, including the appropriate use of public-private partnerships to leverage the resources of the private sector in educating beneficiaries, providers, and stakeholders;
• Expanding outreach to vulnerable and underserved communities, including racial and ethic minorities, in the context of Health Insurance Marketplace, Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP education programs, and other CMS programs;
• Assembling and sharing an information base of "best practices" for helping consumers evaluate health coverage options;
• Building and leveraging existing community infrastructures for information, counseling, and assistance;
• Drawing the program link between outreach and education, promoting consumer understanding the health care coverage choices, and facilitating consumer selection/enrollment, which in turn support the overarching goal of improved access to quality care, including prevention services, envisioned under the Affordable Care Act.

According to the CMS charter, the Advisory Panel on Outreach and Education shall consist of no more than 20 members and meet up to four times a year. Members must have expertise in one or more of the following areas: senior citizen advocacy, outreach to minority communities, health communications, disease-related advocacy, disability policy and access, health economics research, health insurers and plans, health IT, direct patient care, and/or matters of labor and retirement.