Bush Nominates New Medicare, Medicaid Administrator

The White House announcd that Kerry Weems has been nominated to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The White House will also nominate Tevi David Troy to be deputy secretary of HHS.

Following is a statement of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt on nominations for HHS Deputy Secretary and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator:

I am pleased that the President has announced two strong nominees for the HHS senior leadership team. Both bring a broad array of knowledge, management experience and expertise that will enhance our ability to advance effective policies to improve Americans’ health.

Tevi Troy has built an impressive record implementing the President’s top domestic priorities. He is a consensus builder on tough public policy issues and, as Deputy Secretary, his strong analytic skills and practical experience will be an invaluable addition to our efforts. Tevi’s expertise and enthusiasm for improving American’s health have shown in his close workwith this Department over the past few years. He has key leadership and policy experience working in the House, the Senate, for an executive agency, and at the White House. He has been an innovative thinker on such important issues such as health IT, public health and childhood obesity, food and drug safety, welfare, and family and community services.

A 24-year veteran of HHS, Kerry Weems’ wealth of experience as an advisor to several HHS secretaries and as a manager of large budgets and organizations will make him successful in the role of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator. He understands the large fiscal challenges facing Medicare and Medicaid and what it will take to strengthen and sustain those programs for the future. Further, he has been a leader in this department’s efforts to accelerate adoption of health information technology and better financial management systems, which will be a valuable asset to CMS.

Tevi and Kerry are well-respected within the health care community and will be valuable assets to the department in these new roles. I look forward to working with them and urge the Senate to act quickly on their nominations.