It's one of the biggest benefit programs ever launched by a federal agency. It's happening on a fast track. And it's going to require new employees who are quick learners.
The Medicare program will offer a prescription drug benefit to the nation's seniors at the start of next year, an ambitious effort that will require focused management and skilled employees in order to succeed.
Yesterday, the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reassured a Senate subcommittee that the agency is on track to deliver the drug benefit, noting that 345 new employees have been hired to provide the expanded services.
"CMS is confident that, throughout the country, beneficiaries will have access to prescription drug plans on schedule," Mark B. McClellan, the agency's administrator, told a Senate subcommittee on government management and the federal workforce.
McClellan said CMS has revamped its hiring process and realigned its operations. It also is building a staff that will have expertise in drug benefits, pharmacy services, disease management, retiree health benefits and contracts, he said.
CMS plans to hire an additional 55 employees for the drug benefit program over the next few months, bringing the number of new hires to 400. The agency has estimated that it will need at least 500 new employees to meet the goals laid out in the 2003 Medicare modernization law.
In a statement accompanying his testimony, McClellan said the agency has taken advantage of hiring flexibilities authorized by Congress as part of the law. CMS has used "management staff" authority to give higher salaries to certain types of experts who are in high demand in the private sector, "direct hire" to make speedy employment offers, and the federal career intern program to bring in people on two-year internships that typically lead to a permanent civil service job.
The majority of the new hires -- 251 -- have come through the direct hire and intern programs, the statement said. Twenty of those hired have been at the top of the federal pay scale, General Schedule 15 and above.
According to CMS, 36 percent of the 345 new employees came from the private sector, while 33 percent transferred from elsewhere in CMS to take in the prescription benefit program. An additional 15 percent were hired from other government agencies.
The remaining employees came from nonprofits, state and local governments and academic institutions, CMS said.
The hearing was held by Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio), who chairs the Senate subcommittee on government management and the federal workforce. Five Democrats joined Voinovich at the hearing, asking a series of skeptical questions about the drug benefit. Some Democrats expressed fears that poor Americans might end up with less drug coverage than they currently receive through Medicaid.
In addition to hiring for the Medicare program, CMS is reviewing its overall employment practices. Last year, CMS volunteered for an "Extreme Hiring Makeover" project, which is being coordinated by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service.
Marcia Marsh, a vice president at the Partnership, said the project is looking at ways to streamline and improve hiring. The project team found that CMS usually goes through 64 steps in hiring and is looking at ways to cut steps and speed the process, she said.
The project team also ran a demonstration to experiment with new approaches to hiring. The current method typically produces 53 applicants for every job, while the experiment reeled in 227 applicants. The experiment featured announcements that touted the advantages of CMS jobs and a targeted e-mail campaign, which identified possible applicants based on résumés they had placed on Internet job boards.
Of those who passed an initial screening, 169 agreed to take a 45-minute "skills test." CMS selected 24 of the applicants for job interviews. The top-scoring applicant was a disabled veteran, Marsh told the subcommittee. The veteran and five others have been offered jobs, she said.
Retirements
John Euler, chief of the Justice Department's civil division torts branch, has retired. Euler served in the Marine Corps from 1969 to 1978, when he began his career with Justice as a trial lawyer. He also retired as a colonel from the Marine Corps reserves. He is the chairman of the board of directors of the Senior Executives Association.
Dorothy Lazaro, building management specialist in the leased facilities division of the Washington Headquarters Services' Defense Facilities Directorate, retired April 2 after 36 years of federal service.
Diary Live
Steven L. Katz, a former legislative and executive branch official, will take questions and comments on performance-based pay systems at noon today on Federal Diary Live at www.washingtonpost.com. Please join us.
E-mail: barrs@washpost.com
