New Name, New Programs - Government Activity - Brief Article

Health Management Technology, August, 2001

The Healthcare Financing Administration (HCFA) recently announced that it has changed its name to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The official acronym is CMS.

Tommy Thompson, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said the new name reflects a "new culture of responsiveness'" at the agency. In addition to the name change, HCFA also announced three new, separate centers of service:

* The Center for Beneficiary Choices will key in on the Medicare Choice program and provide information to beneficiaries;

* The Center for Medicare Management will deal with the traditional fee-for-service program;

* The Center for Medicaid and State Operations will center around programs administered by the states, including Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP), and insurance regulations.

This is only the first step in the agency's makeover. "We are not just changing the name. We are changing the way we do business," Thompson said. "...I am asking each of the employees to join me in ensuring that the agency is more consumer-oriented, more responsive to the needs of everyone they deal with-the beneficiaries, the providers, the states." www.hcfa.gov