May 8, 2025

Dear Representative,

On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I urge you to not only oppose mandatory demonstration projects at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) but also eliminate funding for this wasteful and ineffective program.  When CMMI was created as part of the Affordable Care Act, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated it would produce savings of $2.8 billion from fiscal years 2011 to 2020.  However, a September 2023 CBO report showed that CMMI had spent $7.9 billion between 2011 and 2020 and reduced spending by $2.6 billion, for a net cost of $5.4 billion and between 2021 and 2030, the net cost would be $1.3 billion.

The elimination of this program would save $10 billion over 10 years and that can be achieved in the budget reconciliation legislation currently moving through Congress.

Proposals to require mandatory CMMI demonstration projects for both Medicare and Medicaid would further entrench CMMI within the Department of Health and Human Services rather than moving it toward termination.  These projects could also include most favored nation drug price controls, which would stifle innovation, reduce the availability of life-savings cures and treatments, and increase costs in the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which is in dire need of reform. 

For these reasons, I strongly urge you to oppose mandatory CMMI demonstration programs and support the elimination of the program.  All votes relating to CMMI will be considered for CCAGW’s 2025 Congressional Ratings.

Sincerely, 

Tom Schatz 
President, CCAGW