Ryan Howe

Ryan Howe currently serves as the Deputy Director, Center for Medicare (CM). He leads the staff that develops policies for and manages the operations for the Original Medicare Program. Over nearly two decades at CMS, he has served in a range of leadership and staff positions, most recently as director of the Hospital & Ambulatory Policy Group (HAPG), tasked 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.   He has also served in roles focused on 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. A native Marylander, he lives outside of Baltimore with his family.