News In Brief

Marilyn Tavenner, a former nurse and hospital administrator who has been serving as acting administrator of the CMS since December 2011, was formally confirmed by the full Senate on a bipartisan vote of 91 to 7 on May 15. Tavenner’s approval rating among both Democrats and Republicans has been high, and she easily went through Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearings last month. (See Also see "Bipartisan Support Of Tavenner For Official CMS Administrator Post Abounds At Confirmation Hearing" - Medtech Insight, 15 April, 2013..) But her confirmation was temporarily held up by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who was unhappy that the Obama administration announced plans to use funds earmarked for the Public Health and Prevention Program under the Affordable Care Act to help fund the effort to implement new health insurance exchanges also established by ACA. (See Also see "Friendly Fire? Tavenner Nomination Held Up By Sen. Harkin" - Medtech Insight, 29 April, 2013..) Tavenner has widespread support for the post among the provider and payer communities and the device industry. (See Also see "Support Gathers In Provider, Payer Community For Tavenner To Head CMS" - Medtech Insight, 5 December, 2011..) She is the first Senate-confirmed administrator to run CMS since Mark McClellan, who served under former President George W. Bush, left the agency in 2006. In terms of device-relevant issues, she has been cited as being potentially more supportive of telehealth and wireless health care services than prior administrators. (See Also see "Straube: CMS Resistant To Telehealth, But Potential Supporter Waits In The Wings" - Medtech Insight, 7 November, 2011..)