Every couple of months, a reporter from a major news organization writes the "there's no one running Medicare" story. On Jan. 12, The New York Times published such a story about the lack of a CMS administrator.
The article notes President Obama has yet to nominate an individual to run CMS, which is likely very discouraging to almost everyone. Considering how long the nomination and Senate confirmation process takes, it's likely that there won't be a CMS administrator if and when health reform legislation is signed into law (HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was nominated March 17, 2009. and was confirmed April 28, 2009. However, those were much gentler times. The political climate is now extremely partisan in Washington.).
That's a big concern among health policy experts and wonks in and around Washington. NYT reporter David Leonhardt writes:
And the lack of a Medicare nomination suggests that the White House is not giving enough attention to what will happen once Mr. Obama signs a bill. Within months, Medicare will need to begin creating pilot programs meant to reduce wasteful care and reward good care. Medicaid will have to plan a huge expansion. The independent Medicare oversight board will have to be formed. The federal government, or perhaps every single state, will need to start creating an insurance exchange.
I'm sure the Obama administration would've love to have had a CMS administrator in place by now. If I were president, I would nominate an administrator after signing a health reform bill. Maybe someone who has served in the Senate and could get some of his or her old colleagues to not filibuster the nomination. At the same time, I would not have waited this long.