The stakes are high for the top Medicare job

Reuters reports that health care overhaul currently being considered in Congress "elevates the job of running the government's $700-billion Medicare agency to new heights and all but guarantees a political battle over filling the post." The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services oversees the government's health insurance programs and "would emerge with more power over the insurance sector and could oversee a new public health insurance plan."

The Obama administration has yet to nominate anyone to fill the post and "his choice for CMS is certain to face tough questioning from Republicans who have criticized reform legislation and are unlikely to back the final plan." In the interim, the agency is being run by Acting Administrator Charlene Frizzera, a  former CMS chief operating administrator. "Whoever takes over from her will face some of the biggest changes the agency has seen in years" (Heavey, 10/27).