Seema Verma

A leading expert on health policy and value-based care, Verma was the longest-tenured administrator of CMS in modern history. She oversaw a budget of more than $1.3 trillion and health insurance programs for more than 140 million Americans. Verma also served on the White House COVID-19 Task Force, where she led efforts to drive telehealth and remote care across the health care system while creating flexibility for health providers to augment the health care workforce, expand services and testing, and ensure access to vaccines and therapeutics. Modern Healthcare ranked Verma as The Most Influential Person in Healthcare in 2019 and one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in Healthcare.

As part of her work at CMS, Verma launched the Kidney Care Choices (KCC) Model in 2020. The program seeks to improve the lives of beneficiaries suffering from kidney disease, expand their treatment options, and reduce their healthcare costs. The KCC Model is just one example of Verma's leadership at CMS that drove innovation to strengthen kidney health. Additionally, Verma spearheaded efforts to introduce transparency and competition into the organ procurement process in order to increase the supply of lifesaving organs available for transplant.

In 2019, Verma received the President's Medal from the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) for her work on the Advancing American Kidney Health initiative that promotes ASN's mission to prevent, treat, and cure kidney diseases throughout the world by educating health professionals and scientists, advancing research and innovation, communicating new knowledge, and advocating for the highest quality care for patients.