Trump taps new director for office on Medicare reforms

The Trump administration on Friday announced a new director for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), an office that could be at the center of efforts to shake up and reform the health system.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma told staff in an email that Adam Boehler, the former CEO of Landmark Health, a home-based medical care company, will start as the director of the office next week.

CMMI has the potential to put forward controversial projects aimed at reforming the health-care system, though it remains unclear how far the Trump administration will go in using its powers.

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The office was created by ObamaCare with the idea that it could test new ways for Medicare and Medicaid to pay for care to save money and make the system more efficient.

The center could, for example, make changes to how drugs are paid for, given President Trump’s efforts to fight high drug prices. The Obama administration tried to use the office to make changes in that area, but eventually dropped the plan after fierce pushback from the pharmaceutical industry and doctors groups.

“Adam is widely regarded as an innovative leader in the private sector and in him we are lucky to have someone who has designed and implemented new, patient-focused approaches to healthcare delivery,” Verma wrote in the email to staff on Friday.