Two Indian American women rose to senior leadership at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that provides health coverage to more than 160 million Americans and oversees roughly $1.5 trillion in annual spending. Seema Verma became the first Indian American to lead CMS as Administrator from 2017 to 2021. In 2021, Dr. Meena Seshamani became the first Indian American to direct the Center for Medicare. Across two administrations, they helped shape the nation’s largest public health insurance programs and placed Indian American women at the center of American health policy.
