04.25.2025 / Press Release

Families USA Appoints Visionary Health Care Leader Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to its Board of Directors

The former CMS Administrator brings deep experience and a track record of innovation on a range of health care reform issues.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The longtime health consumer advocacy organization Families USA announced today that former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure will be joining its Board of Directors. Brooks-LaSure, who played a key role in guiding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through passage and implementation, will help guide the organization and work with fellow board members and staff on the organization’s efforts to advance health justice and economic security, including defending and protecting health care and coverage through programs like the ACA, Medicare and Medicaid.

“Chiquita brings a wealth of experience and knowledge that will boost our mission of achieving better health and health care for all, including in this urgent political moment as key health care benefits and programs hang in the balance,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA. “Due to her leadership at CMS, we saw record high health insurance enrollment numbers, the successful start of prescription drug price negotiations and other efforts to improve affordability, and real advances to improve the overall experience of patients and the public in the health system. Her expertise and commitment to lowering the barriers to health care and coverage will help us in our work to build a health care system that is more accessible, affordable, and administratively simply for all Americans.”

“I’m honored to join the Families USA board, especially at this time when our health system is at a crossroads. Families USA has long played a crucial role in elevating and empowering the voices of people, to advance policies to the goal of affordable, equitable, and accessible health care for all,” said Brooks-LaSure. “I have appreciated Families USA’s leadership in my work on Capitol Hill, in the Administration, and in the health policy community, and I look forward to the work to preserve the coverage gains through Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA marketplaces, and to continue to push a proactive agenda for advancing affordability, access to care, and equity for all.”

Brooks-LaSure served as CMS Administrator for President Joe Biden’s administration from 2021 to 2025. Under her leadership, CMS implemented strategies and initiatives to make the health care system more affordable, equitable, and accessible for families and individuals. During her tenure, she helped the country achieve the lowest uninsured rate in history, with more than 100 million enrolling in health coverage through Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and spearheaded Medicare’s first-ever opportunity to negotiate prescription drug prices. Her other accomplishments include lowering prescription drug costs for Medicare enrollees by capping their out-of-pocket expenses at $2,000, boosting maternal health outcomes through stricter hospital requirements, and reducing barriers to care.

Before becoming CMS Administrator, Brooks-LaSure was Deputy Director for Policy at CMS’s Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. She has also served as Director of Coverage Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, leading the agency’s implementation of ACA coverage and insurance reform policy provisions.

Now a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation, Brooks-LaSure focuses on protecting our country’s historic health care gains and charting a path forward for a more affordable, equitable, and efficient health care system. Her background also includes working on Capitol Hill and in the private sector. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University.