Seema Verma

Seema Verma’s journey to becoming one of the longest-serving Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Administrators in modern history started from the front lines of public health. In her role with Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, Seema worked in public hospitals, nursing homes, and community health centers, where she saw the day-to-day issues between providers and patients. She used her firsthand experience with the consumers and the health care system to build a health policy consulting firm, which she eventually sold, and where she worked with both the state governments and the private sector. With her most notable client, the state of Indiana, Seema built the Healthy Indiana Plan, the first Medicaid consumer-directed health programs for the uninsured. She also helped negotiate its approval through CMS with the Governor at the time, Mitch Daniels. She followed that up with Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 during which she worked with the future vice president Mike Pence to build the new plan and once again negotiate for its approval with CMS. 

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As Administrator, she oversaw health insurance programs for over 140 million Americans, through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Insurance Exchanges, a budget of $1.3 trillion, almost one-third of the federal budget, and over 6,000 employees. Seema was the architect of CMS’s strategic vision, implementing over sixteen strategic initiatives.