Situation Report | June 1, 2021
By a vote of 55 to 44, the U.S. Senate has confirmed Chiquita White Brooks-LaSure’s nomination as Administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a branch within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Formerly as deputy director for policy at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight within CMS, and earlier as director of coverage policy at HHS, Brooks-LaSure led implementation of Affordable Care Act coverage and insurance reform policy provisions. This followed a role as a staffer on the House Ways and Means Committee and as Director at Avalere Health, a health care consulting firm.
Brooks-LaSure began her career as a program examiner and lead Medicaid analyst for the Office of Management and Budget, coordinating Medicaid policy development for the health financing branch.
She has most recently served as a Managing Director at Manatt Health, providing strategic advice to health care stakeholders across the private and public sectors.
The CMS Administrator has an influential role over home and community-based services, payments and regulations. The agency’s responsibilities include the implementation of Conditions of Participation, Medicare audits, and Medicare payment systems like the Patient Driven Groupings Model and the overall rate structure of the Prospective Payment System, among many other areas affecting HCA members.