US Senate confirms Tavenner as Medicare/Medicaid chief

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Marilyn Tavenner, a former nurse and hospital company executive, as the first full-fledged administrator for the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs since 2006. In a rare show of bipartisanship on a healthcare issue, senators voted 91-7 to back President Barack Obama's nominee for administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an $820 billion agency that oversees the bulk of federal healthcare spending and healthcare reform. Tavenner has served as acting CMS administrator since late …