Marilyn Tavenner Nominated to Head Up Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)

President Barack Obama renominated one of his top health care
advisers to lead the federal agency responsible for overseeing Medicare,
Medicaid, and the implementation of his 2010 health care reform law. If
confirmed by the Senate, Marilyn Tavenner would become the first official head
of the CMS since 2006. She currently leads the same agency as acting
administrator. As part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CMS
runs the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs that serve about 100
million elderly, disabled, and low-income people at a cost estimated at $885
billion for this year. Both programs are at the center of a looming debate in
Congress over how to reduce the federal deficit. If confirmed as agency chief,
Tavenner would also exercise official authority over the biggest expansion of
health care coverage in more than a generation under Obama's Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," which is expected
to extend coverage to 38 million people over the next 10 years.

Source/more: Reuters