Congressman Bean Introduces Bill to Abolish CMMI

WASHINGTON-Today, U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean (FL-04) introduced the Abolish the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) Act to dismantle an agency that has increased federal spending, inefficiently spent taxpayer dollars, and repeatedly exceeded its statutory authority by encroaching on Congress's constitutional role.

Upon introduction, Congressman Bean said, "CMMI's existence is yet another example of the waste and mismanagement that has come to define Washington bureaucracy. 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."

BACKGROUND

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) was created under the Affordable Care Act with a $10 billion budget per decade to test payment models intended to reduce costs and improve care. Early projections by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) were overly optimistic, estimating $2.8 billion in savings from 2011 to 2020.

In reality, CMMI increased federal spending by $5.4 billion during that period, and CBO now projects an additional $1.3 billion in spending from 2021 to 2030. Outside analyses suggest these estimates likely understate the true cost, noting even mandatory models "continue to underperform" and fail to become more efficient.

CBO projections also rely on an expansive interpretation of CMMI's authority, allowing the agency to launch and expand mandatory models without Congressional approval, effectively supplanting Congress's constitutional role and limiting lawmakers' ability to intervene.

Read the bill text HERE.

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