Mary Mayhew Tapped to Lead Medicaid

(October 24, 2018)—Former commissioner of Maine Department of Health and Human and Services (DHHS), Mary Mayhew, has been tapped by the Trump administration as the deputy administrator for the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services.

Seema Verma, the head of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, confirmed the hire. “I look forward to having Mary join the CMS leadership team and would like to thank Tim Hill for his leadership as Acting Center Director,” Verma said in a prepared statement.

Mayhew succeeds Brian Neale, who stepped down in January. Neale approved the waiver to make work requirements a condition for Medicaid enrollment.

Not everyone is greeting Mayhew’s appointment with approval. During her tenure as Maine’s DHHS commissioner under Republican Governor Paul LePage, Medicaid funding was significantly rolled back, which critics say led to services for the elderly and disabled being detrimentaly reduced. The Portland Press Herald laid it all on the line in this editorial piece about the appointment.

Read more at the New York Times and Modern Healthcare.