Date: December 17, 2003
For Release: Immediately
Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343
Headline: SECRETARY THOMPSON NAMES ACTING ADMINISTRATOR AT CENTERS FOR
MEDICARE &MEDICAID SERVICES
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today named Dennis G. Smith as interim head
of the Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services (CMS). He becomes Acting
Administrator following the resignation of CMS Administrator Tom Scully,
effective Tuesday. Smith is Director of CMS' Center for Medicaid and State
Operations.
At the same time, Secretary Thompson said Leslie V. Norwalk will remain in
her position as Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer at CMS.
Norwalk will continue to be the CMS lead in carrying out the Medicare
legislation signed into law by the President last week.
"HHS' largest operating division will be in good hands with Dennis Smith as
interim chief of the agency until a new Administrator is nominated and sworn
in," Secretary Thompson said. "At the same time, it is very important that
Leslie Norwalk should carry on in the Deputy Administrator and COO position.
We will rely on her leadership to direct the very complex and demanding task
of implementing the hundreds of changes to be made under the Medicare
improvement act."
With an estimated FY 2004 budget of almost a half trillion dollars ($495
billion in budget authority), CMS' Medicare and Medicaid are the second and
third largest federal programs, behind the Social Security Administration in
total budget.
Medicare pays about 1 billion claims per year on behalf of some 40 million
elderly and disabled beneficiaries. The joint federal-state Medicaid
program provides medical services for some 40 million low income Americans,
including skilled nursing care. CMS also administers the State Child Health
Insurance Program, providing health coverage for more than 5 million
low-income children not covered by Medicaid.
