Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum says it’s time to eliminate the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Programs administered at least in part by CMS account for the most of the funding delivered to the nation’s nursing facilities.

During a January interview on CNN, Santorum said he would welcome the growth of private sector health plans that would compete with Medicare.

“You want to get rid of this — of CMS [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services], where government basically micromanages all healthcare through Medicare and Medicaid,” he said.

Santorum said Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) proposal to convert Medicare to a voucher system is similar to what many seniors now experience when they purchase policies sold by private insurance companies to fill “gaps” in their Medicare coverage.