CMS names first director of coordinated-care office

The CMS has named Melanie Bella to head its Federal Coordinated Health Care Office, an office established by the health reform law to improve the integration of Medicare and Medicaid and foster all-inclusive care programs.

As director, Bella will oversee the office's programs with the aim of coordinating care more efficiently for dual-eligible beneficiaries, according to a CMS announcement.

Bella most recently served as the senior vice president for policy and operations at the Center for Health Care Strategies, a not-for-profit quality improvement organization based in Hamilton, N.J., where she led Medicaid quality initiatives and efforts to integrate care. She also spent four years as the director of Indiana's state Medicaid program.

"We are very excited to have her join CMS to lead this important effort, particularly given her expertise and passion for improving the care provided to people with chronic illnesses and complex medical conditions and her extensive experience working with states," said the CMS' Cindy Mann, director of the Center for Medicaid, C.H.I.P., and Survey & Certification, and Tony Rodgers, director of the Center for Strategic Planning, in the announcement.