CMS Principal Deputy Administrator Jonathan Blum will step down next month, according to a Reuters report.
CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner announced Mr. Blum's resignation, effective May 16, in an internal memo, according to the report. During his five-year tenure, Mr. Blum has lead efforts to reform the $635 billion Medicare program. His resignation comes in the wake of controversy over proposed Medicare Advantage cuts.
In February, CMS proposed a pay cut for health insurers that administer private Medicare plans in 2015. Different news sources and analysts interpreted the proposed rates as translating to a pay cut of anywhere from 1.9 percent to 6 percent, depending on whether they considered just the base payment reduction derived from the statutory Medicare Advantage reimbursement formula or included other factors such as payment system reforms included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. America's Health Insurance Plans and members of Congress from both parties opposed the cuts, and, earlier this month, CMS revised the base payment change to a 0.4 percent increase.
In the memo, Ms. Tavenner wrote Mr. Blum's achievements were "too many to list," according to the report. She credited him with making Medicare "one of our primary drivers to shift our healthcare system to reward quality, care improvement, and value."
News of Mr. Blum's decision to step down comes less than two weeks after Kathleen Sebelius resigned as HHS secretary. Ms. Sebelius' decision to step down after five years at the helm of HHS followed a glitch-ridden rollout for the federal health insurance exchange website, HealthCare.gov.
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