DeBusk Chosen for MedPAC Commission and Other Educational Appointment.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.--(BW HealthWire)--May 25, 2000

Autry O.V. "Pete" DeBusk To Be New Appointee To Medicare

Payment Advisory Commission as well as Chairman

of the Board of Trustees at Lincoln Memorial University 

Autry O.V. "Pete" DeBusk has been appointed as a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). He will serve for three years on this committee designed to advise Congress of changes to Medicare spending policy.

Mr. DeBusk commented on learning of his appointment, "The future of Medicare is one of the most important issues facing all of us. The responsibility of the MedPAC is to review Medicare spending and make recommendations to Congress. Our goal is to answer several questions: how to continue the reliable Medicare system Americans have come to expect and depend upon; how to eliminate the $10-20 billion per year fraud and abuse problems, how to maintain actuarial integrity and how to accommodate desired expansions such as coverage for prescription drugs. I am committed to working diligently with my fellow commissioners and the MedPAC staff to seek the answers to these questions and to make the appropriate recommendations to Congress."

"I want to thank Comptroller General David Walker for appointing me to the MedPAC. I also thank the many Members of Congress for nominating me to this important position. Specifically, I thank Senator Bill Frist and Congressman Bill Thomas for their confidence and perseverance in their recommendations.

"Additionally, I thank the entire Tennessee Congressional Delegation - Senator Fred Thompson, Representative Bill Jenkins, Representative Jimmy Duncan, Representative Zach Wamp, Representative Van Hilleary, Representative Bart Gordon, Representative Bob Clement, Representative Ed Bryant, Representative John Tanner and Representative Harold Ford, Jr.

"Further, I like to thank Senator Trent Lott, Senator Tom Daschle, Senator Chuck Robb, Senator Bill Roth, Senator Pat Moynihan, Congressman Pete Stark, Congressman Tom Bliley, Congressman John Dingell and Congressman J.C. Watts."

This latest appointment comes after a busy spring for Mr. DeBusk. On May 5th, he was appointed chairman of the board of trustees at Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) as well as the LMU nominee for the Association of Governing Board's Distinguished Trustee of the Year. At a dinner Wednesday evening, April 26th, Mr. DeBusk was honored by Duke University's Department of Surgery who presented him with a recognition of excellence for "His original contributions to orthopedic surgery and his immeasurable humanitarian efforts."

DeRoyal is a global supplier of medical products and services. Their four business units: Acute Care, Patient Care, Wound Care and OEM (original equipment manufacturer), are based in ten countries (Sweden, Estonia, Canada, Costa Rica, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States) and in six U.S. states with 26 facility locations (California, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia). Among its more than 25,000 products are rehabilitation and therapy products, sports medicine supports, orthopedic bracing and supports, wound care dressings as well as fiberglass and plaster casting, TracePak unitized delivery systems, custom procedural trays, surgical accessories, critical care products, anesthesia and neonatal care items and temperature monitoring products.