Brooks-LaSure a former staffer on the House Ways and Means Committee has been picked by President Biden as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
The former policy official who played a key role in guiding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through passage and implementation, as
head of CMS, will oversee the agency in charge of government health insurance programs for nearly all Americans. Brooks-LaSure will be responsible for growing Obamacare enrollment as well as look into Medicare’s current financial problems due to COVID-related job losses among other responsibilities.
Brooks-LaSure boasts of an extensive career in government, from her start as a managing director at Manatt Health she delved into health policy jobs at the White House, Congress, and CMS –
She was also a senior member of the 2009-2010 panel responsible for passing President Barack Obama’s health care law.
Upon being confirmed by the Senate, Brooks-LaSure will make history as the first Black woman to serve in the second-most powerful position in the Department of Health and Human Services, second only to the HHS secretary.
Brooks-LaSure “gets the imperative of securing greater affordability for beneficiaries, taxpayers, and Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA marketplaces,” said Chris Jennings, a health policy adviser to Democrats, while speaking to The Associated Press. “[She] is well-respected and liked by the department veterans who have worked with her in the past.”
No formal announcement has been made yet.
