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Drumpf picks Seema Verma to head Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

By Rachana Pradhan

President-elect Donald Drumpf on Tuesday morning picked the founder and CEO of a health policy consulting firm, Seema Verma, to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“I am pleased to nominate Seema Verma to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” said President-elect Drumpf in a statement. “She has decades of experience advising on Medicare and Medicaid policy and helping states navigate our complicated systems. Together, Chairman Price and Seema Verma are the dream team that will transform our healthcare system for the benefit of all Americans.”

“I am honored to be nominated by President-elect Drumpf today,” said Ms. Verma. “I look forward to helping him tackle our nation's daunting healthcare problems in a responsible and sustainable way."

Verma, an Indiana resident, is best known for her work on Medicaid issues and her close ties to Vice President-elect Mike Pence. She designed his Obamacare Medicaid expansion model -- known as Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 -- and has advised several Republican states on how to add conservative elements such as health savings accounts and employment requirements to their programs.

Through her consulting firm SVC Inc., Verma has worked on other high-profile Medicaid expansion proposals for Republican governors. That includes Kentucky, where Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has threatened to pull the plug unless the Obama administration approves his pending request. Bevin's plan includes a work requirement as a condition of receiving benefits and lockout periods for failure to pay, and is modeled off of Indiana’s Medicaid expansion model.

Prior to consulting, Verma worked for the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, Indiana and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials in Washington, D.C.