31 Facts About Seema Verma

Seema Verma was embroiled in ethics and legal controversies related to her use of taxpayer money while in office.

Seema Verma lived in Taiwan for five years while growing up.

Seema Verma received a bachelor's degree in life sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1993.

Seema Verma earned a Master of Public Health, with a concentration in health policy and management, from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 1996.

Seema Verma founded health policy consulting firm SVC, Inc in June 2001.

Seema Verma was president and CEO of the company, which worked with state insurance and public health agencies for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

On November 29,2016, President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to nominate Seema Verma to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees Medicare, Medicaid, and the insurance markets.

Seema Verma was supportive of President Trump signing into law legislation that permitted states to withhold federal funds from facilities that provide abortions.

Seema Verma was a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act, and referred to it as a"failure" during a national conference in 2019.

Seema Verma advocated for a state-led, decentralized approach to the ACA.

In 2018, Seema Verma oversaw a $26 million cut to the Affordable Care Act Navigator Program, a government initiative that assists consumers in enrolling in health insurance through the health insurance marketplace.

On July 25,2018, Seema Verma gave a speech in San Francisco in which she criticized proposals for "Medicare for all".

Seema Verma clashed with HHS Secretary Alex Azar over which plans would replace Obamacare, who would get credit for those efforts, and Seema Verma's attempts to accompany the President on Air Force One instead of Azar.

Flick's inquiry reportedly said Seema Verma had discussed with a lawyer a possible hostile work environment claim against then-HHS Secretary Tom Price; Seema Verma denied she had done this.

The clashes extended to co-workers at CMS, as Seema Verma was cited by her first Chief of Staff in an HHS investigative report as being "insecure" and someone who "lashes out" at subordinates.

Seema Verma quickly assigned her next Chief of Staff to Baltimore, "shutting him out" of her inner circle in Washington.

Seema Verma ultimately cycled through 5 Chiefs of Staff and 5 Medicaid directors during her term.

Seema Verma submitted her resignation from the Trump administration 7 days after the 2021 United States Capitol insurrection, but served until the end of the administration.

Democratic Representative Joe Kennedy III called on Seema Verma to resign immediately, calling her actions a taxpayer "bailout for stolen goods she chose not to insure".

Seema Verma made an effort to purchase awards and honors for herself using taxpayer dollars.

In July 2020, the HHS Inspector General reported that Seema Verma spent more than $5 million in taxpayer funds to do communications work, and to help raise her profile.

The report, a result of a 15-month investigation, concluded that Seema Verma violated federal contracting rules: "CMS improperly administered the contracts and created improper employer-employee relationships between CMS and the contractors".

Seema Verma spent more than $3.5 million on Republican Party-aligned consultants to promote her.

Seema Verma spent nearly $3,000 in taxpayer dollars on consulting fees for organizing a "Girl's Night" party thrown in her honor, hundreds of dollars for makeup artists, as well as $13,000 to promote herself to win awards and appear on panels.

Seema Verma billed CMS up to $380 per hour for her travel entourage, as well as drivers at a rate up to $203 per hour and hotel rooms that cost more than $500 per night.

One of the outside consultants that Seema Verma paid was Marcus Barlow, who had been her spokesperson at her former consulting firm SVC and who worked on three separate contracts for CMS.

In 2021, Seema Verma said she lost her CMS-issued cell phone two days before President Biden's inauguration, resulting in the elimination of all of its stored records.

Seema Verma then failed to complete the standard form explaining how she lost her phone, the court records state.

Records from that phone can not be accessed because the phone was locked and Seema Verma said she had forgotten her passcode.

Seema Verma told reporters she had "no regrets" about her actions or tenure.

Seema Verma was appointed as general manager and senior vice president at the Oracle Corporation in April 2023, reporting to Mike Sicilia.