Obama nominates acting CMS administrator to take over agency

President Barack Obama has nominated Andrew Slavitt as administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the position he has held on an interim basis since Marilyn Tavenner stepped down in February.

Slavitt was appointed by HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, and oversees day-to-day decisions regarding implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, payment and delivery reform, health care fraud, and improving health outcomes.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement saying that Slavitt's nomination would receive "thorough consideration."

Slavitt previously worked as group executive vice president of Optum, a unit of UnitedHealth Group. He was one of the executives helping with the so-called tech surge to fix HealthCare.gov in the months after it launched. He also served as CEO at UnitedHealth's Ingenix unit, which has raised some concerns by some members of Congress over conflict of interest. HHS has previously issued an ethics waiver for Slavitt, who will have to recuse himself from matters involving UnitedHealth.

But the acting administrator received support form American Hospital Association CEO Rich Umbdenstock, who said in a statement that Slavitt “has a deep understanding of the U.S. health care system and a commitment to improving patient care.

“We believe Andy's proven leadership in the public and private sectors speaks to the ongoing contributions he will make at CMS,” Umbendstock added. Slavitt also received support from Chip Kahn, CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals. -by Mark Neumann