For the first time in 7 years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has a Senate-confirmed administrator, now that Marilyn Tavenner has received that body’s stamp of approval.
Ms. Tavenner was confirmed on May 15 by a 91-7 vote (two senators did not vote). The Republican senators opposing her confirmation were Mike Crapo of Idaho, Ted Cruz of Texas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and James Risch of Idaho.
Marilyn Tavenner
Ms. Tavenner has been serving as acting administrator since December 2011, when Dr. Don Berwick stepped down.
"Marilyn brings with her a breadth of experience and expertise from virtually all angles of health care policy and delivery, having served as a hospital CEO, a state health official, and a registered nurse," Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, said in a statement. "Marilyn will serve in a critical role at CMS as we work to improve the health care for hundreds of millions of Americans."
Ms. Tavenner has said that she wants the agency to evolve into something a bit different under her leadership. In a written response to questions during her confirmation process, she said that she will have three primary aims.
First "we need to operate CMS as a business and act like business partners," she wrote. That includes "an ‘open-door policy’ to work together and listen to the concerns of all the groups we work with and work for: beneficiaries, taxpayers, providers, hospitals, members of Congress, states, advocacy groups, insurance companies and our own employees and contractors."
The second aim is implementing the ACA and the third is to use new tools to reduce health costs and improve delivery.
"These tools include new payment strategies connected to performance, new models of care, and enhanced tools to combat fraud," she wrote.
Ms. Tavenner has generally been well regarded among physicians and other health care providers, and they applauded her confirmation.
"The American Medical Association is very pleased that the Senate has confirmed Marilyn Tavenner as administrator of CMS," Dr. Jeremy Lazarus, president of the AMA, said in a statement. "As acting administrator, she has demonstrated her ability to be a capable and effective leader. We look forward to continuing to work with the administrator to strengthen the Medicare system to improve health outcomes for patients and the practice environment for physicians."
The American Society of Clinical Oncology also issued a statement of support, noting that the agency was at a critical point.
"CMS faces many challenges in the coming months that will impact oncologists and their patients," Dr. Sandra Swain, ASCO president, said in a statement. "ASCO encourages Administrator Tavenner to continue working closely with the cancer community specifically as it works to develop a system to qualify registry programs, such as the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI), for reporting under the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS)," she said.
Prior to joining the federal government, Ms. Tavenner worked extensively for the Hospital Corporation of America and served as the company’s group president of outpatient services just prior to leaving in 2005. She is a registered nurse and received both her nursing degree and master’s of health administration from Virginia Commonwealth University.
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