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Name: Weems, Kerry
Current Position: Previous Acting Administrator
A New Mexico native, Kerry Weems was appointed Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in September 2007. Weems has bachelor’s degrees in business administration and philosophy from New Mexico State University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of New Mexico.
Weems joined the Department of Health and Human Services as a Social Security junior analyst in 1983, and went on to assume a number of department leadership positions. As acting assistant secretary for budget, technology and finance, he developed a finance system for managing some $700 billion and 65,000 employees.
Weems most recently served as deputy chief of staff to DHHS Secretary Michael Leavitt, focusing on reforming the department’s information technology infrastructure. He was also active in efforts to create a global warning system in the event of an influenza pandemic.
President Bush appointed him CMS acting administrator in June 2007. The Senate confirmed him the following month
In addition to working in the Department of Health and Human Services, Weems served the U.S. Senate for two years as a legislative aide and staff member for the Appropriations Committee. In 1996, he was appointed to the Senior Executive Service, which is made up of civil servants who act as a link between top presidential appointees and bureaucracies over which they preside.
Ask the White House: Kerry Weems, (White House)
White House selects new leader for CMS (by Jill Wechsler, Managed Healthcare Executive)
