Bush Nominates Mark McClellan to be CMS Administrator

Yesterday, Tuesday, February 24, President Bush nominated Mark McClellan to be the new Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). McClellan is currently Administrator of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is a physician and economist by trade and a former top health advisor to President Bush. He was also on the Council of Economic Advisors under President Bush and at the Department of Treasury in the Clinton Administration. The nomination of McClellan to the top CMS post is viewed as a strategic move to strengthen the Administration's efforts on implementing the Medicare prescription drug coverage benefit. McClellan is a proponent of relying on the private sector to improve the health care system and is highly regarded by both congressional Republicans and Democrats. Dennis Smith has been Acting CMS Administrator since former Administrator Tom Scully left the agency in December.