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Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, announced that he would be resigning as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at the beginning of October 2006. Dr. McClellan became Administrator of CMS in March 2004. Before serving at CMS, he was the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner and a member of the President's Council on Economic Advisers. During his tenure at CMS, McClellan oversaw the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), which created the new Part D prescription drug plan, effective earlier this year. McClellan is also credited for promoting quality incentives and pay-for-performance initiatives at CMS.
Because of the short amount of time remaining in the Congressional calendar, it is likely that President Bush will appoint an acting director until the 110th Congress convenes in 2007. Herb Kuhn, Director of the Center for Medicare Management; Leslie Norwalk, Deputy CMS Administrator; and Dennis Smith, Director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations, are a few of the names that have been mentioned to replace McClellan. For further information, please contact Ingrida Lusis, ASHA's Director of Health Care Advocacy, by e-mail at ilusis@asha.org.
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