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Jonathan Blum, a top official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will leave his post on May 16. The departure of Mr. Blum, the agency’s principal deputy administrator, was announced Tuesday in an email to staff by CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner. He was first appointed as the director for the Center for Medicare in 2009 before becoming a deputy administrator last year
According to Tavenner’s email, Medicare per-capita cost growth has remained at the lowest sustained period under Jon’s tenure, while quality of care has increased and new benefits have been added to the program.
When he steps down, Blum will have held the principal deputy position since last year August. In his leadership roles at CMS, Blum has been very vocal in his support of ACOs.
From 2009-2013, Blum was the director of the Center for Medicare at CMS. During his tenure, Blum has overseen the regulation and payment of fee-for-service Medicare providers, which during the past few years has faced ever- increasing pressure from physician stakeholders to reform the antiquated sustainable growth rate payment formula.
On Tuesday, April 1, President Barack Obama signed the “Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014,” HR 4302, which creates a one-year patch for the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) Medicare physician payment formula, to April 2015.
His departure follows HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ resignation earlier this month. HHS, the agency that presides over CMS, has faced significant criticism over the less-than-perfect launch of Healthcare.gov last year.
Agencies/Canadajournal
