Today, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) President Tom Schatz issued the following statement in support of H.R. 8293, the Abolish the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Act:

“We commend Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) for introducing H.R. 8293, the Abolish the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMMI) Act, and encourage Congress to support its enactment. The legislation would eliminate CMMI, which was established with a $1 billion annual budget in the Affordable Care Act in 2010 with the objective of reducing costs and improving healthcare in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Instead, it has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars, disrupted patients and doctors, and expanded government control over healthcare without meaningful oversight. CMMI has abysmally failed to meet its objective. It was projected to save $2.8 billion through 2020 but lost $5.4 billion, with another $1.3 billion estimated to be lost through 2030. Only four of 70 models met the statutory criteria for success, which is a 94 percent failure rate. While originally intended to test small-scale payment demonstrations that would supposedly save money and improve care, CMMI has morphed into a tool for unelected bureaucrats to reshape healthcare policy with zero accountability.”

“Eliminating CMMI and giving policymaking back to Congress, which can reform healthcare policy and require new demonstrations at any time without committing $1 billion annually for that purpose, is the responsible path forward that protects taxpayers, patients, and doctors. CCAGW thanks Rep. Bean for bringing attention and action to address the failures of CMMI. We endorse and urge Congress to pass H.R. 8293 to reduce wasteful spending, restore congressional authority over healthcare policymaking, and protect patients and doctors from an unaccountable bureaucracy.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

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