Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service

Membership

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) served 125 million Americans enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in FY 2017.

Major Areas

CMS is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. The primary offices are not located in Washington D.C. but in Baltimore. With a budget of approximately $681.6 billion, serving almost 125 million beneficiaries, CMS has a dominant role in American health care. The top position in CMS, the Administrator, is nominated by the President of the USA but must be confirmed by the Senate. Most administrators have come to CMS from academia or have been industry lobbyists. The position of Administrator is complex and demanding. Nancy-Ann DePearle, who served as Administrator at the end of the Clinton administration, during one of the few periods in which federal spending for CMS declined, noted that the Administrator has “…many bosses, including 535 members of Congress, the White House, the...