CMS: Former Officials Discuss Challenges for Next Administrator
The next CMS <http://www.cms.hhs.gov/> administrator "from day one"
will have to address a number of major national health care issues that
likely will include significant changes to Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP,
according to several former agency administrators and HHS
<http://www.hhs.gov/> secretaries, The Hill
<http://thehill.com/business--lobby/next-medicare-chief-faces-big-challe
nges-2008-12-09.html> reports. In addition, the next CMS administrator,
whom President-elect Barack Obama to date has not nominated, will have
to manage an agency that has 4,400 employees, a $676 billion annual
budget and the responsibility to provide health insurance to 44.6
million Medicare beneficiaries, 51 million Medicaid beneficiaries and
6.3 million SCHIP beneficiaries. The next CMS administrator also will
work with Obama and the next HHS secretary, likely Senate Majority
Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), in efforts to the reform the U.S. health
care system. According to The Hill, potential CMS administrator nominees
include Jeanne Lambrew, a member of the Obama transition team and a
senior fellow at the Center for American Progress
<http://www.americanprogress.org/> ; Avalere Health
<http://www.avalerehealth.net/> President Dan Mendelson; Robert
Berenson, a scholar at the Urban Institute <http://www.urban.org/> ;
Judy Feder, a professor at Georgetown University
<http://www.georgetown.edu/> ; and Ken Thorpe, a professor at Emory
University <http://www.emory.edu/> . Tommy Thompson, a former HHS
secretary and a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld
<http://www.akingump.com/> , said, "That's going to be an extremely,
extremely important position." Tom Scully -- a former CMS administrator,
senior counsel at Alton & Bird <http://www.alston.com/> and a general
partner at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe <http://www.welshcarson.com/>
-- said, "The challenges of running that place are unbelievable in a
slow time," adding, "It's just a huge place." Gail Wilensky, a former
CMS administrator and a senior fellow at Project HOPE
<http://www.projecthope.org/> , said, "It's a terrific job because it
marries policy and operations in a way almost no other position does."
Mark McClellan, a former CMS administrator and a former FDA
<http://www.fda.gov/> commissioner, said, "You need management skills
and leadership skills," as well as "experience in leading reform
efforts" in the public or private sector. McClellan, director of the
Engelberg Center for Healthcare Reform
<http://www.brookings.edu/health.aspx> at the Brookings Institution,
added, "You really need to keep the entire agency staff moving along"
(Young, The Hill, 12/9).
Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications disclaimer: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/secretariat/legal/disclaimer.htm
|