Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), previously known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with State governments to administer Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and health insurance portability standards. In addition to these programs, CMS has other responsibilities, including the administrative simplification standards from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), quality standards in long-term care facilities (more commonly referred to as nursing homes) through its survey and certification process, and clinical laboratory quality standards under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments.

1 History
2 Workforce
3 Regional offices
4 Additional information
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Act on July 20, 1965, establishing both Medicare and Medicaid. The Social Security Administration (SSA) became responsible for the administration of Medicare and the Social and Rehabilitation Service (SRS) became responsible for the administration of Medicaid. Both Agencies were organized under what was then known as the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).

In 1977, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) was established under HEW. HCFA became responsible for the coordination of Medicare and Medicaid. The responsibility for enrolling beneficiaries into Medicare and processing premium payments remained with SSA.

In 1980 the Department of Health and Human Services was created when HEW was divided into two agencies: the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HCFA became an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services.

On July 1, 2001, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson renamed HCFA the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Secretary Thompson explained that in order "to give the agency a new direction, a new spirit, it is necessary that we give it a new name - one that truly reflects the agency's vital mission to serve millions of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries across America."

[edit] Workforce

The CMS employs approximately 4,100 employees, of which 2,700 are located at its headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland. The remaining employees are located in the Hubert H. Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C., the 10 regional offices listed below, and in various field offices located throughout the United States.

[edit] Regional offices

CMS has its headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland, with 10 regional offices located throughout the United States:

Region I - Boston
Region II - New York
Region III - Philadelphia
Region IV - Atlanta
Region V - Chicago
Region VI - Dallas
Region VII - Kansas City
Region VIII - Denver
Region IX - San Francisco
Region X - Seattle

[edit] Additional information

The Health Care Financing Review is a quarterly journal published by CMS.

The previous CMS Administrator, Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, was sworn in on March 25, 2004. On September 5, 2006, McClellan announced his resignation from the post. The current Acting Administrator as of October 16, 2006 is Leslie V. Norwalk, Esq.

McClellan's predecessor, Thomas A. Scully was found to have committed numerous ethics violations, including embezelling nearly $10,000 for personal use and stock speculating in companies CMS regulated. The Health and Human Services Inspector General also found that Scully unlawfully threatened to fire the CMS Actuary for estimating the new Medicare Part D prescription drug plan would cost $400 billion more than Scully claimed. Scully was eventually forced to repay seven months of his salary for "illegally keeping data from Congress." See "Former Bush Adviser to Pay for Trips," The Washington Post (July 10, 2006), "Inquiry Proposes Penalties for Hiding Medicare Data", The New York Times, (September 8, 2004)

Sean Tunis, CMS chief medical officer, was suspended in 2005 and later departed after being charged by the Maryland Board of Physicians for falsification of documents, failure to comply with subpoenas, and unprofessional conduct in the practice of medicine. See The Washington Post, April 9, 2005.

CMS has been under scrutiny for a rash of incidents involving abusive treatment by security contractors provided by Knight Protective Servicesand the Federal Protective Service. This includes refusing reasonable accommodation to disabled visitors under new security measures implemented after 9-11 and retaliating against persons filing complaints.