Representative Aaron Bean (R-FL) is introducing legislation to abolish the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), arguing the program is underperforming and wasting federal funds.
The CMMI, also known as the Innovation Center, as described on its webpage, "develops and tests health care payment and service delivery models to improve patient care, lower costs, and align payment systems to promote patient-centered practices."
Established as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or "Obamacare") in 2010, the CMMI receives $10 billion in funding over 10 years to test payment models that reduce costs and improve care, which the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) hoped would save $2.8 billion between 2011 and 2020. However, despite its name, the program actually increased spending by $5.4 billion during that period and is expected to raise another $1.3 billion between 2021 and 2030.
Moreover, mandatory models are not working as intended, and the CMMI has the authority to launch and expand these models without Congressional oversight.
"CMMI's existence is yet another example of the waste and mismanagement that has come to define Washington bureaucracy," Rep. Bean said in a press release. "It's time that we fight back against the bloated federal government and eliminate agencies that should never have been established in the first place. The expenditure of taxpayer dollars must be tied to results, and after 15 years of proven failures, it's long past time to end CMMI for the good of both patients and taxpayers."
Rep. Bean sits on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus, a group of lawmakers dedicated to downsizing the federal government and reducing waste, fraud, and abuse.
"Our Congressional DOGE Caucus Platform is a common-sense roadmap that will undo the devastating damage of Crazy Town's reckless spending addiction and Make America Efficient Again," the Florida congressman said in January 2025. "At this critical moment in our nation's history, I look forward to delivering institutional change to better serve the American public."
