Tony Trenkle, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief information officer, is stepping down from his post to join the private sector. His departure comes on the heels of the troubled rollout of the new insurance marketplace Healthcare.gov.
While Trenkle’s agency was responsible for the rollout of the marketplace, it is unclear how involved Trenkle himself was in the project. Some
reports suggest that Henry Chao, Trenkle's one-time deputy and chief technology officer, is the technology lead for Healthcare.gov. An internal email sent to staff by CMS Chief Operating Officer Michelle Snyder and obtained by
Federal News Radio said Trenkle will leave the agency effective Nov. 15.
“As the CIO, Tony provided oversight and leadership to CMS' $2 billion annual expenditures on information technology (IT) products and services," Snyder wrote in the email. "Please join me in thanking Tony for his years of public service and wishing him great success in his future endeavors.”
Dave Nelson, the director of the Office of Enterprise Management, will fill in as interim CIO after Trenkle steps down.
Sarah Rich is a former staff writer for Government Technology.
