Biden chooses Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to lead Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Brooks-LaSure formerly worked for the Obama Administration within CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Joe Biden has selected Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to a report in The Washington Post.
The Obama-era policy official who helped implement the Affordable Care Act was deemed a front-runner for the position earlier this month by Politico.
She most recently served as a managing director at Manatt Health, where she provided policy analysis and strategic advice to healthcare stakeholders across the private and public sectors.
Brooks-LaSure has also previously completed stints at federal-level health agencies. She was deputy director of policy and regulation at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight within CMS, and before that was director of coverage policy at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Prior to her time with the Obama administration, she worked on Capitol Hill for the House Ways and Means Committee, where she forged a working-relationship with Xavier Barrera, Biden's pick to lead the HHS.
WHY THIS MATTERS
If confirmed by the Senate, Brooks-LaSure will oversee the $1 trillion agency that controls Medicare and Medicaid.
She will likely be tasked with continuing to unwind some of the controversial policies implemented under the former administration.
Already under the Biden administration, CMS has opened a special enrollment period for the ACA, notified states that it would begin to roll back Medicaid work requirements and has begun reviews into the public charge rule, as well as any policies that undermine the ACA, Medicaid or the Health Insurance Marketplace.
THE LARGER TREND
Brooks-LaSure will be taking the reins from Elizabeth Richter, who was named acting administrator until a permanent chief was chosen.
While Brooks-LaSure has yet to be officially named administrator, the Biden administration released its latest round of HHS hires on Wednesday.
Twitter: @HackettMallory
Email the writer: mhackett@himss.org
