- Tom Scully
- Alston & Bird
- Senior Counsel
-
Expert for May 2009
Bio
Tom Scully is Senior Counsel in Alston & Bird’s Washington, D.C. office with his practice focusing on health care regulatory and legislative matters, as well as on advising clients on health policy and strategies for healthcare delivery.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Scully was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), where he served from 2001 to 2004. Formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration, CMS is responsible for the management of Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, and other national healthcare initiatives. CMS controls more spending than any other federal agency—over $800 Billion for fiscal year 2004.
At CMS Mr. Scully was noted for his instrumental role in passing Medicare reform and Medicare Rx legislation, as well as for changing the agency’s culture and making the vast agency more open and accountable to the public. Mr. Scully initiated the first public reporting and disclosure for comparative quality among hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and dialysis centers. Tom also initiated a broad public education campaign to improve seniors’ awareness and utilization of their Medicare benefits.
Before joining CMS, Tom served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Hospitals from January 1995 to May 2001. The Federation represents over 1700 privately owned and managed hospitals.
Tom is also a former partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Patton Boggs, LLP, where his practice focused on regulatory and legislative work in health care. Before joining the law firm, Tom worked at the White House in the first Bush Administration as Deputy Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from 1992-93; and as Associate Director of OMB for Human Resources, Veterans and Labor from 1989-92. In 1988, Tom worked on the Bush for President campaign. He was an attorney with Akin Gump from 1985-1988 and he worked for U.S. Senator Slade Gorton from 1980-1985.
Tom Scully holds a Juris Doctor degree from Catholic University and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia. In addition, he also serves on the Advisory Board of the George Bush Presidential Library, Executive Council of the Harvard School of Public Health, and he is a General Partner with Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, in New York City.
In the current debate over healthcare
reform, there are three areas that receive the most attention from legislators
– access, cost, and quality. One of the first points that most
legislators make when discussing the healthcare system and the need for reform
is undoubtedly the issue of access. How many times have we heard a
politician speak about the 47 million insured? Immediately afterwards,
the conversation usually turns to the issue of costs. Often times, a
politician will point out that, “America spends twice as much per capita as any
other industrialized nation in the 
