President Trump’s choice for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Seema Verma, was sworn in by the Vice President Mike Pence in a solemn ceremony at the White House. Her husband Sanjay, daughter Maya, son Sean, as well as her mother and sister, were present on teh occasion. Verma said she cannot wait to begin the work of overhauling key parts of the American healthcare system that covers more than 100 million Americans.
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“Today, our healthcare stands at a crossroads, and we have no choice but reform it,” Verma said. President Trump has chosen “One of the leading experts” on state-based healthcare solutions in the country, said Vice President Pence while introducing Verma. He credited her for designing Indiana’s Medicaid system, Healthy Indiana 2.0 while he was Governor of that state and in states like Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and elsewhere to make health care a matter of “personal responsibility and effective care.”
“The President has asked you to bring your expertise to D.C.,” Pence said, adding, “We’re confident that you’ll help restore health care decision making to the states and in the process help make the best healthcare system in the world even better.”
The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin which represents more than 60,000 physicians, welcomed Verma’s appointment. Ajay Lodha, president of AAPI, lauded Verma’s accomplishments in Indiana and said that he hope that the problems faced by patients under the Medicare drug plan would be improved under her leadership.
“Drug coverage has gone down and for patients under Medicare who are all above 65, and not healthy and needed medications – I hope she can do something for them.” Lodha said.
Dr. Sudhir Parikh, publisher of News India Times, who runs more than 20 clinics around the greater New York area, had said that Verma is critical to the changes being envisaged under President Trump’s plan to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. “Medicare and Medicaid are ctitical to the healthcare mix. Most of those under these programs cannot afford the care or are uninsured. Medicaid advantage and Medicare overhaul are necessary.”
“It’s very important for our Indian-American physicians because almost half of them work in inner cities and rural areas where these kinds of patients are in large numbers,” Parikh said. “It’s very critical that Seema Verma makes sure they are covered by the state programs,” he added.
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Verma has found out-of-the-box solutions to design state Medicaid programs in Indiana and several other states, as the Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady, R-Texas, noted in a statement. Describing Verma as “the perfect person” for the job, Brady said, “I look forward to working with her to return control of health care back to states and give patients across America more control over their own care”
By Premji
