Modernizing Medicare and Medicaid: A Conversation with CMS Administrator Seema Verma
WELCOME
Seema Verma’s journey to becoming one of the longest-serving Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Administrators in modern history started from the front lines of public health. In her role with Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, Seema worked in public hospitals, nursing homes, and community health centers, where she saw the day-to-day issues between providers and patients. She used her firsthand experience with the consumers and the health care system to build a health policy consulting firm, which she eventually sold, and where she worked with both the state governments and the private sector. With her most notable client, the state of Indiana, Seema built the Healthy Indiana Plan, the first Medicaid consumer-directed health programs for the uninsured. She also helped negotiate its approval through CMS with the Governor at the time, Mitch Daniels. She followed that up with Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 during which she worked with the future vice president Mike Pence to build the new plan and once again negotiate for its approval with CMS.
As Administrator, she oversaw health insurance programs for over 140 million Americans, through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Insurance Exchanges, a budget of $1.3 trillion, almost one-third of the federal budget, and over 6,000 employees. Seema was the architect of CMS’s strategic vision, implementing over sixteen strategic initiatives.
Modern Healthcare ranked her as one of the “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare” in 2020 and one of the nation’s “Top 25 Women Leaders in Healthcare” in 2019. Seema has written extensively about a range of healthcare issues, being published in the Wall Street Journal, Health Affairs, the Washington Post, NewsWeek USA Today, etc. She has also spoken on several news shows, including Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CBS, ABC, etc.
Following her role with CMS, Seema was a Senior Advisor at TPG, a member of the Cressey Distinguished Executive Council, served on the boards of Lumeris, Wellsky, ClaimsXten, ShiftKey, and as an advisor to both early-stage and Fortune 500 companies. Currently, Seema serves on the boards of Monogram Health and Lifestance.
She was appointed as General Manager and Senior Vice President at Oracle in April 2023. In January 2024, her role was expanded to Executive Vice President, and she now oversees Oracle Health.