CMS Leadership

Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight

Dr. Ellen Montz

Deputy Administrator and Director

Ellen Montz, PhD

Ellen Montz is the Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Most recently, Ellen served as the Chief Deputy and Chief Health Economist at Virginia's Medicaid Department, playing a central role in the state’s expansion of Medicaid, pandemic response, and investment in value-based and equity-focused health care delivery. She previously served in several roles during the Obama-Biden Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, and the White House Domestic Policy Council, where she focused on implementing provisions of the Affordable Care Act related to private health insurance, Health Insurance Marketplaces, and Medicaid. Ellen has also worked as a Senior Fellow at the Century Foundation. A native Texan, she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rice University, a Master of Public Affairs degree from the LBJ School at the University of Texas, and a PhD in health policy economics from Harvard University.

Jeff Grant

Deputy Director for Operations

Jeff Grant has 25 years of experience as an entrepreneurial manager of major health programs in the Federal sector, leading the implementation of Affordable Care Act, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit payment policies, operations, and systems.  He currently serves as the Deputy Director for Operations in CCIIO, leading 450 Federal staff and thousands of contracted personnel to support the enrollment of millions of Americans in private health insurance coverage and the provision of many key consumer protections, including the No Surprises Act.  Jeff has a BA in History from the University of Michigan and a Masters of Public Administration from the George Washington University.  He is a retired Navy Reservist with 22 years of service.

Phone
301-492-4304
DC

Jeff Wu

Deputy Director for Policy

Jeff Wu is the Deputy Director for Policy in CCIIO, where he leads the center’s work promulgating policy and regulations for many of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance reforms, including the Health Insurance Marketplaces (including SHOP), the premium stabilization programs, advance payments of the premium tax credit and cost-sharing reductions, the CO-OP program, regulation of qualified health plans, and eligibility and enrollment standards. He oversees the center’s communications, stakeholder outreach, and data analysis work, and serves as a member of the center’s senior leadership team. He previously served in various policy positions at CCIIO, as an attorney at the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP, and as a management consultant with Oliver, Wyman & Company. He received an A.B. in economics from Harvard College, a J.D. from Stanford Law School, and an M.B.A. from Stanford Business School.

 

Phone
301-492-4305
DC

Michael Jimenez

Center Chief Technology Officer

Mike Jimenez is CCIIO’s the Chief Technology Officer for the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO). Previous to joining CCIIO, Mike worked for the U.S. Digital Service at DHS. In this role, Mike provides executive direction and leadership of the Health Insurance Marketplace and CCIIO’s technical vision. In addition to driving the Marketplace information technology (IT) budget and portfolio review process to ensure efficient and effective use of all IT resources, Mike is responsible for setting CCIIO’s IT vision and strategy. This includes, but is not limited to, overseeing IT development and implementation to support CCIIO’s mission of the health insurance ecosystem. One primary goal is to ensure that infrastructure performance levels meet all program and administrative demands while remaining reliable, secure, and fault-tolerant operations 24/7/365.

Mike has approximately 30 years of experience in IT organizations focused on software engineering, with 20 of those years building and leading teams that delivered results in organizations large and small. Before beginning his government service, Mike led teams in large regional and national financial corporations and small education and language learning software product companies. Mike holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Mercy College in New York.

CCIIO Functional Statement

  • Provides national leadership in setting and enforcing standards for health insurance that promote fair and reasonable practices to ensure affordable, quality health care coverage is available to all Americans.
  • Provides consumers with comprehensive information on insurance coverage options currently available so they may make informed choices on the best health insurance for themselves and their families and issues consumer assistance grants to States.
  • Implements monitors compliance with and enforces the new rules governing the insurance market such as the prohibition on rescissions and on pre-existing condition exclusions for children. Conducts external appeals for States that do not have that authority.
  • Implements, monitors compliance with, and enforces the new rules regarding medical loss ratio standards and the insurance premium rate review process, and issues premium rate review grants to States.
  • Administers the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan program and associated grant funding to States, the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, and the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan program.
  • Collects, compiles and maintains comparative pricing data for an internet portal providing information on insurance options, and provides assistance to enable consumers to obtain maximum benefit from the new health insurance system.
  • Collects, compiles and maintains comparative pricing data for the Department's web site, provides assistance to enable consumers to understand the new health insurance laws and regulations, and establishes and issues consumer assistance grants to States.
  • Develops and implements policies and rules governing State-based Exchanges, establishes and issues Exchange Planning and Establishment to States, oversees the operations of State-based Exchanges, and administers Exchange in States that elect not to establish their own.
  • Oversees and directs the development and operations of the back end and systems functions for healthcare.gov in support of the Federally Facilitated Marketplace, Distributed Hub Services and Multidimensional Insurance Data Analytics Systems.
Page Last Modified:
09/06/2023 09:34 PM