Veteran healthcare leader, policy maker and clinician takes the helm at Center for Medicare
This week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the appointment of Meena Seshamani, MD, PhD, as Deputy Administrator and Director for Medicare. According to a CMS press release, Dr. Seshamani will lead the Center’s efforts in serving those who are 65 years or older, people with End-Stage Renal Disease that rely on Medicare coverage, and people with disabilities.
“We congratulate Dr. Seshamani on her well-deserved appointment and look forward to collaborating with both her and the Biden-Harris administration on our shared policy priorities,” said Tom Koutsoumpas, CEO of the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) and co-founder of the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC), where until recently Dr. Seshamani served as Board Director.
A former policy maker and health system leader, Dr. Seshamani held a leadership position with the Biden-Harris Transition HHS Agency Review team. Most recently, Dr. Seshamani served as Vice President of Clinical Care Transformation at MedStar Health, where she led the development and implementation of multiple value-based initiatives. Her work has since been recognized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and other thought leaders. Prior to that, Dr. Seshamani was Director of the Office of Health Reform at the US Department of Health and Human Services, where she headed up strategy and implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
“Dr. Seshamani’s record speaks for itself,” said Carole Fisher, President of NPHI. “At this critical juncture, her experience caring for some of the most vulnerable people in our healthcare system will be instrumental in ensuring no one is left behind.”
Dr. Seshamani earned her BA with Honors in Business Economics from Brown University, her MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and her PhD in Health Economics from the University of Oxford, where she studied under a Marshall Scholarship, among the most selective programs for American students in the world. She would go on to complete her residency training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine before going on to practice head and neck surgery at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco.
###
Press Contact
Allan Malievsky
Communications Director
amalievsky@hospiceinnovations.org
The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) is a collaborative of 70+ not- for-profit, community-integrated hospice and palliative care providers dedicated to ensuring patients and their families have access to care that reflects their individual goals, values and preferences. Representing providers from 31 states and the District of Columbia, NPHI and its members help design more innovative and effective models of care, advocate for comprehensive and community-integrated care customized to meet each person’s unique needs, and build collaboration between national thought leaders, decision-makers, and other healthcare stakeholders to improve hospice care. www.nphi.info