# James Capretta

> James C. Capretta is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he holds the Milton Friedman Chair and studies health care, entitlement programs, and the long fiscal arc of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. He spent more than 16 years inside the federal government, including as an associate director at the White House Office of Management and Budget from 2001 to 2004, where he was the lead OMB official on Medicare and Medicaid policy. A market-oriented reformer who argues for consumer choice and cost discipline over centralized control, he is the author of US Health Policy and Market Reforms: An Introduction and a prolific commentator on the math of America's safety-net programs.

- **Role:** Senior Fellow and Milton Friedman Chair at the American Enterprise Institute
- **Organizations:** American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Bipartisan Policy Center, National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation, Ethics and Public Policy Center (former), White House Office of Management and Budget (former), Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates (former)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA in Government, University of Notre Dame, MA in Public Policy Studies, Duke University
- **Known for:** Holds the Milton Friedman Chair at the American Enterprise Institute, Lead OMB official for Medicare and Medicaid reform policy development and implementation, 2001-2004, Author of US Health Policy and Market Reforms: An Introduction (AEI Press, 2022)

## Career timeline

- **1990s** — Served roughly a decade in Congress as a senior analyst on health care and Social Security at the US House Committee on Ways and Means and the US Senate Budget Committee, and as a budget examiner at OMB
- **2001-2004** — Associate Director at the White House Office of Management and Budget, the lead OMB official for Medicare and Medicaid reform policy and other domestic initiatives
- **2004-2006** — Managing Director at Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates
- **2006-2016** — Fellow and later Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center
- **2011** — Joined the advisory board of the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation
- **2022** — Published US Health Policy and Market Reforms: An Introduction (AEI Press)
- **Present** — Senior Fellow holding the Milton Friedman Chair at the American Enterprise Institute and senior adviser to the Bipartisan Policy Center

## Achievements

- Holds the Milton Friedman Chair at the American Enterprise Institute
- Lead OMB official for Medicare and Medicaid reform policy development and implementation, 2001-2004
- Author of US Health Policy and Market Reforms: An Introduction (AEI Press, 2022)
- More than 16 years of senior service across the executive and legislative branches
- Senior adviser to the Bipartisan Policy Center
- Widely published commentator on entitlement and fiscal policy across academic journals and national outlets

## Latest updates

- **2026** — Argued in AEI commentary that Congress should not exempt Medicare from budget scrutiny as the federal fiscal position deteriorates
- **2025** — Proposed refocusing the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) on achieving deep cost reductions following the 2025 reconciliation bill
- **2025** — Wrote on CMS's plan to use AI and information technology to strengthen oversight of fee-for-service payments and prevent fraud

## Links

- Website: https://www.aei.org/profile/james-c-capretta/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/JCapretta

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/james-capretta
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Last updated: 2026-06-02