Overview

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is an operating division within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Headquarter in Baltimore, CMS operates regional offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle. CMS employs approximately 6,700 federal employees in Maryland, Washington, DC, and many other states throughout the country. CMS provides direct services to state agencies, healthcare providers and suppliers, individuals with Medicare, sponsors of group health plans, Medicare health and prescription drug plans, and the general public. In addition, CMS’s staff provides technical assistance to Congress, the Executive branch, universities, and other private sector researchers. CMS also contracts and/or partners with third parties to operate many of its important activities. As the largest single health payer in the U.S., CMS administers Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, the federal Marketplace, and the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1988 (CLIA) program. CMS now maintains the nation’s largest collection of healthcare data.