Brooks-LaSure joins fellow Biden vets at Century Foundation

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure has joined other former senior Biden administration officials at the Century Foundation, the progressive think tank announced Friday.

The former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will be a senior fellow at the organization, which previously brought aboard former Health Resources and Services Administration Administrator Carole Johnson and former acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, each of whom served under President Joe Biden.

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During her four years at CMS, Brooks-LaSure spearheaded efforts to beef up oversight of Medicare Advantage insurers and nursing homes, streamline quality measurement, crack down on prior authorizations, and expand coverage under Medicaid and the health insurance exchanges.

"I couldn’t be more proud of the work we did in the Biden administration to improve our healthcare system, especially for historically underserved communities," Brooks-LaSure said in a news release. "But the job is far from done. It will take a new playbook to protect against threats from the Trump administration and continue our work to lower costs and expand coverage."

Brooks-LaSure will report to Jeanne Lambrew, the director of Health Care Reform at the think tank. Lambrew was director of the Health and Human Services Department Office of Health Reform under President Barack Obama and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Prior to becoming CMS administrator in 2021, Brooks-LaSure was a managing director at the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips' consulting arm, Manatt Health. During the Obama administration, she had stints as director of coverage policy at HHS and deputy director for policy at the CMS Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. Brooks-LaSure previously worked on the Democratic staff of the House Ways and Means Committee and at the White House Office of Management and Budget under President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush.

Modern Healthcare named Brooks-LaSure the most influential person in healthcare in 2023.

Two of Brooks-LaSure's CMS deputies previously announced new roles. Former Center for Medicare Director Dr. Meena Seshamani is secretary of the Maryland Department of Health under Gov. Wes Moore (D) and former Center for Medicaid Director Dan Tsai is director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health under Mayor Daniel Lurie (D).