DHS Names New State Medicaid Director
Date: 18-10-2012
[MMA News Now, Oct. 18 2012] Carol Backstrom, a former assistant to the health commissioner in the Pawlenty administration, is returning to Minnesota as state Medicaid director. She will begin work at the Department of Human Services (DHS) on Nov. 5.
Backstrom currently serves as a senior policy advisor at the Center for Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Programs) Services, which is part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In this role she has served as liaison with state partners in creating and implementing reforms in Medicaid programs.
“We are fortunate to have Carol’s expertise and leadership at this critical time for health reform in Minnesota,” said DHS Commissioner Lucinda Jesson. “We have already taken significant steps to improve the overall value of our health care investment and we are poised to make more progress in the months to come.”
Medicaid, funded jointly by the state and federal governments, serves 666,000 low-income senior citizens, adults, children and people with disabilities in Minnesota. It represents one of the largest expenditures in the state health and human services budget with expenditures of $7.5 billion for state fiscal year 2011.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|