ROCHESTER, Minn. — An Internet blog says Mayo Clinic’s national CEO is on a list of candidates to become the next federal administrator overseeing Medicare.
The RPM Report, a blog focused on health regulation, policy and market access, says Dr. Denis Cortese is among fewer than 10 choices to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
“We’ve seen the blogs, and I can tell you that Dr. Cortese has not been offered a position,” said Jane Jacobs, spokeswoman for the Mayo Health Policy Center.”Until an offer would be made, depending on what it would be, we could not begin to speculate on that.”
The blog lists the Mayo CEO first among possible choices. It says: “Cortese would be an intriguing pick to lead the agency and seemingly has every qualification to lead the growing Medicare programs: He’s an outsider, he holds a medical degree, he manages a large health institution and he’s helped to implement a number of the most talked about health reforms at Mayo and made them work.”
Mayo has been gathering information about how best to reform the nation’s health-care system for the past two years, under the tenure of Cortese. The Mayo Health Policy Center has sought input from thousands of business leaders, patients, advocacy groups and health providers.
