Medicare Chief McClellan Leaving Center

Mark McClellan, the Bush administration’s Medicare chief who has overseen the program’s biggest expansion in 30 years, confirmed that he is stepping down, the Boston Globe reported.
   Dr. McClellan, an internist who previously taught both economics and medicine at Stanford University, said that after he steps down in October he will spend more time with his 7-year-old twin daughters and will interview at one of the Washington, DC-based think tanks including American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution. Within the past month he discussed his plans with Stanford, said Michelle Mosman, a spokeswoman at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
   It isn’t clear who will be the likely successor, although several policy experts speculated one candidate could be Dr. McClellan’s deputy, Leslie Norwalk, according to the Wall Street Journal. Should a nomination be coming, Congress will be in session only a few weeks this month before lawmakers leave to campaign for the midterm elections. A lame-duck session is likely after Election Day.
   Dr. McClellan was tapped to run Medicare after a 2003 law added prescription-drug benefits for seniors. He was sworn in March 2004 as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that provides health care for about 90 million Americans, including seniors, the disabled and low-income children. As head of the largest health insurer, he manages a budget of about $600 billion.
   While the law sparked contention, Dr. McClellan’s implementation of it largely has won bipartisan support. He has worked with the industry and expanded and established programs tied to private-sector involvement and senior enrollment. Many Democrats had hoped that concerns about the new drug benefit would figure more prominently in the campaign season.
   “It disappears as a campaign issue,” said Thomas A. Scully, Dr. McClellan’s predecessor at CMS, who praised Dr. McClellan’s managerial skills. “I’m not sure if I could pull that off.”
   Dr. McClellan’s tenure has been largely consumed by the new drug benefit. But in recent months, he also has pushed more for performance measures for doctors and hospitals that do business with the government.
   Dr. McClellan’s departure has been rumored for months in health-care-policy circles in Washington. The father of two young daughters, he often worked until midnight and answered email well after that.