HCFA gets a new name and an ambitious agenda
August 1, 2001 less than 1 minute read
HCFA gets a new name and an ambitious agenda
Agency splits into three business centers
In June, the Bush Administration renamed the Health Care Financing Administration. The agency’s new name will be the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Tommy Thompson, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, says the change symbolizes his commitment to improving the agency’s services to beneficiaries, doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers.
Along with the name change, CMS will be reorganized into three divisions:
• The Center for Beneficiary Choices, which will provide information to Medicare patients in private health plans;
• The Center for Medicare Management, which will run the traditional fee-for-service version of the insurance program;
• The Center for Medicaid and State Operations, which will handle Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
To help develop brand recognition for its new name, CMS plans to conduct a $35 million national media campaign this fall to highlight the types of Medicare insurance available to the elderly, including HMOs, fee-for-service Medicare, private insurance to fill gaps in Medicare, and medical savings accounts.
Meanwhile, CMS and HHS want to double the number of beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare HMOs within four years, which would place 30% of seniors in managed care by 2005.
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