Thursday confirmation hearing on Medicare trustee nominees

The Senate Finance Committee will stage a hearing this week to examine two presidential nominees for the Medicare and Social Security board of trustees, the office of Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) announced Wednesday. 

Charles P. Blahous, former economic adviser to George W. Bush, and Robert D. Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute, will appear before the panel on Thursday.

The trustees are charged with performing annual examinations of the fiscal soundness of the nation’s largest entitlement programs. The passage of healthcare reform in March has pushed this year’s report to later in the summer.