According to preliminary news media reports, Jonathan Blum, principal deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), will be stepping down from his post, effective May 16.
Blum has been with the agency for more than five years. From 2009-2013, he served as the director of the Center for Medicare at CMS, overseeing the regulation and payment of Medicare fee-for service providers, privately-administered Medicare health plans, and the Medicare prescription drug program.
According to his bio on CMS’ website, Blum led the implementation of many significant Medicare reforms, including the Medicare Shared Savings Program (ACOs), the Medicare Advantage Quality Bonus Program, competitive bidding for durable medical supplies, new bundled payment initiatives, and the Medicare prescription drug discount program.
Blum also helped lead the charge behind pricing transparency, overseeing the release of Medicare payment data for more than 880,000 distinct healthcare providers earlier this month.
Healthcare Informatics will keep you updated on this breaking story as it gets more information.
