100 Most Influential People in Healthcare - 2021

As head of the nation’s largest payer, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure is leading the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' efforts to reduce healthcare spending, improve clinical outcomes and boost health equity. Other payers will likely follow CMS’ lead. She was managing director of Manatt Health and served as a consultant for the Commonwealth Fund. She also led the HHS agency review team during the Biden-Harris transition. Brooks-LaSure launched her career at the Office of Management and Budget and moved on to the House Ways and Means Committee, where she helped lead on the Affordable Care Act.

Brooks-LaSure speaks: “We want to make sure that people can access all the benefits they are entitled to, including the Medicare savings programs. We want to continue to see innovation and growth in what we offer participants. And we really want to focus on health equity to make sure the program is working for all enrollees.”