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"It is with sadness and mixed emotions that I write to tell
you that February will be my last month," Marilyn Tavenner,
administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS), said in an email to staff.
She gave no reason in the email for her departure.
A former nurse and hospital chain executive, Tavenner, 63,
joined CMS in February 2010, a month before President Barack
Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. She enjoyed
bipartisan support in Congress as a private sector leader who
had also served as Virginia's health secretary.
An administration official said Tavenner was leaving "at the
right time" after her agency had hired capable new officials in
leadership positions. "She's been here for five years and it's a
24/7 job," the official said.
Andrew Slavitt, a former UnitedHealth Group executive who joined
CMS last year to oversee HealthCare.gov and coordinate CMS
policy, will replace Tavenner as acting CMS administrator.
Tavenner quickly emerged as a leading figure in the
implementation of Obamacare, including HealthCare.gov, which
crashed on launch in October 2013 due to technical glitches and
plunged Obama and his signature domestic policy into months of
political crisis.
She apologized for the debacle, while a team of outside experts
got the website working well enough to surpass enrollment
projections.
Republicans in the House of Representatives later accused
Tavenner and other administration officials of misleading them
about the Obamacare rollout by assuring lawmakers ahead of the
launch that the website would work.
On Friday, news of her resignation drew mixed reaction in
Congress.
Republican senators including Orrin Hatch, chairman of the
Senate Finance Committee, praised Tavenner for performing
admirably under difficult conditions. Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell said he hoped her replacement would not be
distracted by Obamacare, calling it "a gigantic, unworkable
law".
In the House, Republican Darrell Issa blamed her agency for
"padding" Obamacare enrollment numbers, saying: "Tavenner had to
go."
In a nearly 2,000-word email to staff, Tavenner made no mention
of HealthCare.gov, but focused instead on the successes of
Obamacare enrollment, improved quality of care and a crackdown
on Medicare fraud and abuse.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell told federal
staff in a separate email that Tavenner had helped shore up the
Medicare program for the elderly, expanded the Medicaid program
for the poor, reduced hospital infections and accelerated
innovation.
"It's a measure of her tenacity and dedication that after the
tough initial rollout of HealthCare.gov, she helped right the
ship," Burwell said.
(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by John
Whitesides, Leslie Adler and Alan Crosby)
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