Smith to lead Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation

Brad Smith, former chief operating officer of Anthem’s Diversified Business Group, has been appointed director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced on Monday that Smith will lead CMMI, which was created by the Affordable Care Act to test innovative payment and service delivery models leveraging healthcare information technology.

“Brad’s experience thinking outside the box to improve healthcare as a successful entrepreneur, along with his stellar academic and policy background, have prepared him well to lead CMMI and bring innovative solutions to our healthcare system’s most pressing challenges,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma in a written statement. “I am excited that we have selected Brad to join the ranks of CMS and help us build on the important work the Trump Administration has undertaken to transform our healthcare system to deliver better value to patients.”


Smith, who co-founded and previously served as CEO of home-based palliative care services company Aspire Health, has also been appointed senior advisor to HHS Secretary Alex Azar for value-based transformation.

“Brad will help HHS and CMS continue and accelerate the value-based transformation work that we have begun under President Trump,” said Azar in a statement. “Paying for outcomes rather than procedures through CMMI models is an important tool for the value-based transformation of healthcare that President Trump has prioritized. Brad has impressive experience with innovative care delivery and paying for value, and he will help expand Administrator Verma’s and CMS’s efforts to ensure Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries are getting better care, and better health, at a lower cost.”

Smith replaces Adam Boehler as head of CMMI. Boehler, who launched several value-based payment models, left the agency this summer after a little more than a year on the job to serve as CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corp.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate health committee, praised Smith’s appointment to serve as the director of CMMI as CMS looks to incentivize value-based care.

“Brad has exactly the right experience to lead a center charged with coming up with innovative ways to lower healthcare costs and improve quality,” said Alexander. “He has founded a successful healthcare company and knows how state and federal governments work, having served under Governor Bill Haslam and Senator Bob Corker, and at the White House. I look forward to working with Brad to give Americans better healthcare outcomes, better experiences, at lower costs.”