Medicare Agency Changes Name, Expands Services

On June 14, the Bush administration announced that the agency that runs Medicare and Medicaid is getting a new name-the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The agency was previously known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).

According to Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services, the name change reflects a "new culture of responsiveness" at the agency. In addition to changing its name, the agency will also open three new centers of service, including: the Center for Beneficiary Choices (which will focus on the Medicare+Choice program); the Center for Medicare Management (which will deal with the fee-for-service program and providers); and the Center for Medicaid and State Operation (which will focus on programs administered by the states, including Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program and insurance regulations).

Future plans include:

  • expanding the services of the agency's toll-free number (1-800-MEDICARE) to answer questions about Medicare 24 hours a day, seven days a week
  • conducting a $35 million national media campaign to highlight the types of health insurance available to the elderly
  • training the nation's librarians so they can help beneficiaries
  • get Medicare information on the Internet providing more data to help consumers evaluate health-care providers of all types

From "HCFA Gets a Name Change, Calls Itself CMS" from the June 15, 2001 issue of SNFInfo Connection and "Medicare Agency Changes Name in an Effort to Emphasize Service," by Robert Pear, June 15, 2001 issue of the New York Times.