100 Most Influential People in Healthcare - 2020

Verma was undoubtedly busy this year. Within weeks of seeing the coronavirus reach U.S. shores, the federal regulator began quick and comprehensive coverage changes. From telehealth parity to advancing Medicare payments to ensuring coverage of vaccine cost for seniors, CMS quickly responded to access issues. Increased price transparency and interoperability of electronic health records were also major issues on this year's agenda. The industry, however, denounced the agency’s distribution methods of the COVID stimulus package and urged CMS to keep flexibilities around quality and compliance measures and bed capacity. Personally, Verma continued to face questions about spending $6 million federal funds on polishing up her own profile.