Center for Medicare

Chris Klomp is the Director of Medicare and Deputy Administrator of CMS, and Senior Advisor to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. With extensive experience in healthcare payment reform and data sharing, he built and led Collective Medical, the largest U.S. real-time care collaboration data network, acquired by PointClickCare in 2020. There, he partnered with health systems, plans, providers, post-acutes, and state governments to advance value-based care through enhanced data access and insights.

 Chris has driven healthcare reform at state and federal levels, focusing on value-based care and interoperable health technology. Through Endurance Companies, a San Francisco-based multi-family office he co-founded with Stanford classmates, he has co-founded, invested in, advised, and served on the board of many innovative healthcare organizations, including Nomi Health, Maven Clinic, InnovaCare Health, and Health Joy. He also served as a Utah Senate-confirmed commissioner of the Utah Digital Health Services Commission, where he focused on leveraging technology for cost-effective, healthier outcomes. Previously, he was Vice President in Bain Capital’s North American Private Equity group and worked at Bain & Company. Recognized as Utah Business’ CEO of the Year and EY’s Mountain Region Entrepreneur of the Year, Chris holds a B.A. with honors in Economics and English from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Stanford, graduating as an Arjay Miller Scholar.

 He resides in Washington, DC, and Park City, UT, with his wife and four children, enjoying family, community, and outdoor activities.

Alec Aramanda serves as the Principal Deputy Director of the Center for Medicare, overseeing policy and operations related to Medicare fee-for-service, Medicare Advantage, and the Medicare Prescription Drug Program. Prior to joining the Center for Medicare, Alec worked at the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee where he led the Medicare and Health Information Technology portfolio. He previously served at CMS from 2018 through 2021 as the Director of the Office of Legislation and the Director of Stakeholder Engagement. Before joining CMS in 2018 he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation at the Department of Health and Human Services from 2017 through 2018. He began his public policy career at the Heritage Foundation in 2006 before serving in the U.S. Senate from 2010 through 2017 in the offices of Senators Jim DeMint and Ted Cruz. Before re-joining CMS in February of 2025, he most recently worked at law firm Williams & Jensen. He received a B.A. in Political Science from Haverford College.

Ryan Howe is the Acting Deputy Director, Center for Medicare (CM).  He is a member of the Senior Executive Service, holding the title of Director of the Hospital & Ambulatory Policy Group (HAPG).  HAPG is charged with establishing, maintaining, and updating scope of benefits, conditions of payment, and payment rates for the inpatient and outpatient hospital prospective payment systems, the Physician Fee Schedule, the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule, Part B drugs, rural health clinics, federally qualified health centers, opioid treatment programs, among other Medicare payment systems.  During his career, Ryan has led agency efforts to improve payment policies related to telehealth services, primary care, and behavioral health and served in key roles during the CMS response to the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in implementing rapid changes to telehealth and diagnostic testing policies.   In addition to serving in several other leadership roles in HAPG, Ryan also has experience with the Medicare prescription drug benefit and in management of the Medicare Administrative Contractors.  

Ryan holds a doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and a bachelor’s degree from Boston College. 

Chris Smith Ritter is the Acting Deputy Director, Parts C and D, of the Center for Medicare. As Deputy, Chris has responsibility for the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Programs as well as Medicare Parts A & B enrollment policy and Parts A & B appeals policy and operations. This includes oversight responsibility, operations, and policy development for the health and drug plans that serve over 50 million Medicare beneficiaries. Chris has spent her career at CMS. She originally joined the agency from a fellowship at The George Washington University, and she went on to hold several leadership positions in CM-FFS including Deputy Director for the Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group. Chris also spent several years in the Innovation Center as the Director of the Patient Care Models Group directing specialty care, bundled payments, and drug models, and she then rejoined CM-C/D as the Director of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Group to build the group and to implement the new Drug Price Negotiation and Inflation Rebate Programs.  Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from The College of William and Mary, a Master of Public Administration from The American University, and a PhD in Public Administration from The George Washington University.

Joe Albanese is the Director of Policy at the Center for Medicare. Joe was previously a Senior Policy Analyst at Paragon Health Institute where his work included numerous published reports and congressional testimonies pertaining to Medicare. Prior to that, he was a Program Examiner on the Medicare team at the White House Office of Management and Budget. Joe holds a Bachelor of Science and Master in Public Policy from Georgetown University.

• Serves as CMS' focal point for the formulation, coordination, integration, implementation, and evaluation of national Medicare program policies and operations.
• Identifies and proposes modifications to Medicare programs and policies to reflect changes or trends in the health care industry, program objectives, and the needs of Medicare beneficiaries. Coordinates with the Office of Legislation on the development and advancement of new legislative initiatives and improvements.
• Serves as CMS' lead for management, oversight, budget, and performance issues relating to Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans, Medicare fee-for-service providers, and contractors.
• Oversees all CMS interactions and collaboration with key stakeholders relating to Medicare (i.e., plans, providers, other government entities, advocacy groups, Consortia) and communication and dissemination of policies, guidance, and materials to same to understand their perspectives and to drive best practices in the health care industry.
• Develops and implements a comprehensive strategic plan, objectives, and measures to carry out CMS' Medicare program mission and goals and position the organization to meet future challenges with the Medicare program and its beneficiaries.
• Coordinates with the Center for Program Integrity on the identification of program vulnerabilities and implementation of strategies to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse.