After the botched rollout of insurance exchanges last year, the federal government is trying to get the technology right for what promises to be just as big a consumer turnout this fall.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell has named UnitedHealth/Optum group VP Andy Slavitt to the job of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services principal deputy administrator, following Jonathan Blum, who left the job this spring, as second in command to administrator Marilyn Tavenner.
Burwell also announced the creation of two positions overseeing the national insurance exchange program: chief executive officer and chief technology officer. Most recently the director of the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, Burwell said she wants to improve management and accountability at the agency going into open enrollment for the 2015 health plan year this fall, after "lessons learned from the rollout of HealthCare.gov" and various recommendations.
Slavitt has landed the deputy administrator job after helping lead the "tech surge" repair efforts for Healthcare.gov, via Optum's QSSI unit, a contractor on the federal exchange data hub. He also spent more than a decade at UnitedHealth Group, joining in 2003 through the acquisition of Health Allies, a discount program for health products and services not covered by insurance.
As principal deputy administrator, Slavitt will be overseeing agency-wide policy, covering everything from Medicare Advantage to Medicaid and exchanges.
"Andy's breadth of experience throughout the healthcare sector makes him the right person for this role, and I am excited for our partnership across all of the CMS programs," said CMS administrator Marilyn Tavenner.
Burwell and Tavenner said they are in the process of recruiting for the two executive marketplace roles.
The CEO will be responsible for "leading the federal marketplace, managing relationships with state marketplaces, and running the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight," reporting to Tavenner "with a dotted line to" Burwell. The CTO, reporting to the CEO, will work with the Office of Information Services within CMS "in order to ensure proper alignment of project milestones and deliverables."
Both CEO and CTO "will be accountable for policy development and technical operations of the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, working closely with a variety of stakeholders and states on ongoing implementation efforts," Burwell and Tavenner said.