Seema Verma
American businesswoman (born 1970) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seema Verma (born September 26, 1970)[2] is an American healthcare executive who is currently a general manager and executive vice president at Oracle Corporation. She was administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in the first Donald Trump administration from 2017 to 2025.
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Seema Verma | |
|---|---|
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| 15th Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services | |
| In office March 14, 2017 ā January 20, 2021[1] | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Marilyn Tavenner |
| Succeeded by | Chiquita Brooks-LaSure |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 26, 1970 Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | University of Maryland, College Park (BS) Johns Hopkins University (MPH) |
Early life and education
Born in Virginia, Verma was a first-generation Indian American. She and her family moved several times, living in small towns such as Joplin, Missouri, and larger cities such as the Washington D.C. area. She also lived in Taiwan for five years while growing up.[3] In 1988, she graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland.[4] Verma's father, Jugal Verma, said his daughter "grew up in a Democratic household."[5]
Verma received a bachelor's degree in life sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1993. She earned a Master of Public Health, with a concentration in health policy and management, from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 1996.[6]
Career
Summarize
Perspective
Early career
Verma was vice president of the Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County,[7] and worked at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials in Washington, D.C.[8]
SVC, Inc.
Verma founded health policy consulting firm SVC, Inc. in June 2001. She was president and CEO of the company, which worked with state insurance and public health agencies for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. SVC also assisted Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, and Kentucky, as well as other states, in the design of Medicaid expansion programs under the ACA.[8][9]
In 2006, Verma's team began pitching policies which would "provide government-funded health insurance to the working poor." She approached Gov. Mitch Daniels with a Medicaid alternative, featuring health savings accounts that required participants to contribute monthly, even if only a few dollars.[10] This proposal eventually became the Healthy Indiana Plan, which expanded coverage options to low-income individuals with employer-sponsored healthcare coverage.[9]
In her work with Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, she developed Medicaid reform programs under the Section 1115 waiver process.[11][12]
In 2014, ethics concerns were raised over a potential conflict of interest arising from Verma's dual roles as both a health care consultant for the State of Indiana and as an employee of a Hewlett-Packard division that is among Indiana's largest Medicaid vendors.[7] SVC, Inc. had been awarded over $6.6 million in contracts from the State of Indiana, while Verma was concurrently employed with Hewlett-Packard, earning her over $1 million during a period when the company had secured $500 million in State of Indiana contracts.[13][14] In 2016, her firm collected $316,000 for work done for the State of Kentucky as a subcontractor for Hewlett-Packard, according to documents obtained by the AP through public records requests.[14][15] Richard Painter, former President George W. Bush's chief ethics lawyer, called Verma's arrangement a "conflict of interest" that "clearly should not happen and is definitely improper."[14] Ethics experts noted this conflicted with her public duties.[14]
Trump administration
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On November 29, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to nominate Verma to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees Medicare, Medicaid, and the insurance markets.[16] On March 13, 2017, the United States Senate confirmed her nomination in a 55ā43 vote.[17]
One of her first actions was to send a letter to the nation's governors, urging them to impose insurance premiums for Medicaid, charge Medicaid recipients for emergency room visits, and encourage recipients to obtain employment or job training as a requirement for Medicaid coverage.[18][19] She was supportive of President Trump signing into law legislation that permitted states to withhold federal funds from facilities that provide abortions.[20]
Vermas has been a critic of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and referred to it as a "failed government program."[21] Throughout her tenure at CMS, she advocated for a series of policy changes to reform the ACA and the healthcare system.
In 2017, Verma and the CMS launched the "Patients Over Paperwork" initiative, a program aimed at reducing administrative burden on physicians.[22] In 2018, Verma oversaw a $26 million cut to the Affordable Care Act Navigator Program, a government initiative that assists consumers in enrolling in health insurance through the health insurance marketplace.[23]
In 2019, under Verma's leadership, the CMS issued new guidance that would allow states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients.[24][25] Verma and the CMS launched a pilot program in 2020 that lowered the cost of insulin to $35 a month for some senior Americans.[26][27]
On March 2, 2020, the office of Vice President Mike Pence announced Verma's addition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.[28][29] As a part of the taskforce, Verma introduced temporary waivers and regulatory flexibilities for hospitals and healthcare providers.[30]
In the weeks leading up to the 2020 election, she pushed Medicare career civil servant officials to finalize a plan to issue $200 cards before the November 3 election, branded with Trump's name, for Medicare recipients to use on drugs.[31] The taxpayer-funded plan was estimated to cost $7.9 billion and draw from Medicare's trust fund.[31]
She submitted her resignation from the Trump administration 7 days after the 2021 United States Capitol insurrection, but served until the end of the administration.[32][33][34]
Criticism and controversies
During her tenure as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Verma was involved in several controversies and faced criticism from experts and officials. Some experts criticized Verma for her support of Medicaid work requirements and efforts to dismantle aspects of the Affordable Care Act.[35][36][37]
Verma was also criticized for her misuse of taxpayer funds. She reportedly spent millions of dollars on contracts with communications consultants to improve her public image, and in 2018, she filed a claim requesting $47,000 in reimbursement for items stolen during a work trip.[38][39][40] In 2023, the Government Accountability Office officially concluded that Verma's spending while at CMS was in compliance with federal law, after an earlier HHS Inspector General report claimed there was a federal violation.[41][42]
Verma also had a contentious relationship with Alex Azar, the HHS Secretary. The two reportedly clashed over which policies would replace Obamacare and who would get credit for those initiatives.[43][44]
Oracle career
Verma was appointed as general manager and senior vice president at the Oracle Corporation in April 2023, reporting to Mike Sicilia.[45][46] In January 2024, her role was expanded to executive vice president, and she now oversees Oracle Health.[47]
Personal life
Born in Virginia, Verma moved several times across the United States with her family, and once lived in Taiwan for five years, before settling in the greater Indianapolis area.[48] Verma and her family live in Carmel, Indiana.[48]
References
External links
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