# Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services *Federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services that administers Medicare and works with states on Medicaid* The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is a federal agency of the [[United States Department of Health and Human Services]] (HHS). It runs the Medicare program itself. It shares the administration of Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and health insurance portability standards with state governments.[^1] The agency's other duties include: - the administrative simplification standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA); - quality standards for nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, applied through survey and certification; - clinical laboratory quality standards under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments; - oversight of HealthCare.gov. CMS inspects and reports on every nursing home in the United States and maintains the 5-Star Quality Rating System. Until 2001 the agency was called the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).[^1] The Minnesota record holds two validated claim:link pairs that name CMS, and both point to the federal Medicaid match flow. The pair filed under the project's [[Title VI]] race-discrimination theory describes that flow as subject to Title VI.[^2] The pair filed under the project's refugee-resettlement theory (T15) refers to CMS oversight of the same flow.[^3] Both pairs cite only the agency's home page. The record in the pack does not establish any specific CMS action, finding or filing concerning Minnesota.[^2][^3] ## Organization Six centers carry out the agency's core functions, and numerous other offices support them. CMS operates from a national headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland, and from 10 regional offices.[^4] The centers are: - the Center for Medicare (CM); - the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS); - the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), also known as the CMS Innovation Center; - the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO); - the Center for Program Integrity (CPI); - the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ).[^4] ### Workforce CMS had more than 6,000 employees in 2022, and roughly 4,000 of them worked at the Woodlawn headquarters. The others worked at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C., in the 10 regional offices, or in field offices around the country.[^5] The agency is led by the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The president appoints the administrator, and the Senate confirms the appointment.[^5] ## History The Dependents' Medical Care Act of 1956 first used the name "Medicare" in the United States. It applied to a program of medical care for the families of military service members. In January 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower convened the first White House Conference on Aging, where a health care program for Social Security beneficiaries was proposed.[^6] On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments, which created Medicare and Medicaid together. That year Arthur E. Hess, a deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration, became the first director of the Bureau of Health Insurance. That appointment made him the first executive to head Medicare, which then insured 19 million Americans.[^6] From 1965 the Social Security Administration ran Medicare and the Social and Rehabilitation Service ran Medicaid. Both were part of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). HEW became the Department of Health and Human Services in 1980, which put both programs under HHS.[^6] HEW created the Health Care Financing Administration in March 1977 to coordinate Medicare and Medicaid. The Social Security Administration kept the work of enrolling Medicare beneficiaries and processing premium payments.[^6] On July 1, 2001, HCFA took the name Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 later wrote that name into law.[^6] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services* (revision 1381462752, retrieved 2026-10-26) — lead section: CMS's place in HHS, its programs and other responsibilities, nursing-home inspection and the 5-Star Quality Rating System, and its former name, HCFA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Medicare_&_Medicaid_Services [^2]: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, *CMS.gov* (agency home page) — the URL cited by validated claim:link pair CL-Theory2TitleVIRaceDiscri-45, which describes the federal Medicaid match flow as subject to Title VI. https://www.cms.gov/ [^3]: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, *CMS.gov* (agency home page) — the URL cited by validated claim:link pair CL-T15TheVOLAGRefugeeResett-54, which refers to oversight of the federal Medicaid match flow. https://www.cms.gov/ [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services* (revision 1381462752, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Organization section: the six centers, the Woodlawn headquarters and the 10 regional offices. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Medicare_&_Medicaid_Services [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services* (revision 1381462752, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Workforce section: 2022 staffing figures and how the administrator is appointed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Medicare_&_Medicaid_Services [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services* (revision 1381462752, retrieved 2026-10-26) — History section: the 1956 and 1961 antecedents, the 1965 Social Security Amendments, the creation of HCFA in 1977, the 1980 reorganization of HEW, the 2001 renaming and the 2003 codification. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Medicare_&_Medicaid_Services