President Barack Obama asked the U.S. Senate to confirm Andy Slavitt as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Slavitt has been the acting administrator of CMS since former administrator Marilynn Tavenner left the position at the end of February. He joined the government in 2014, after working as an executive vice president at UnitedHealth Group’s Optum unit, which helped fix healthcare.gov.
Slavitt faces some push back, however. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and said Slavitt will have to answer questions about his work at UnitedHealth.
“Mr. Slavitt’s conflicted history in the medical services industry has produced mixed results and raised a number of serious concerns,” Hatch said in a statement. “Slavitt will need to answer a number of tough questions regarding his former employer and their relationship with the agency.”
Groups representing hospitals and doctors said they were pleased by Slavitt’s nomination.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.