A former leader of Arkansas' effort to overhaul its health care payment system has been named director of the state Medicaid program, the state Department of Human Services announced Monday.
Dawn Stehle was hired to replace former Medicaid Director Andy Allison after a nationwide search, Human Services Department spokesman Amy Webb said.
Stehle had served as interim director since Allison resigned effective June 1.
"I'm excited for the opportunity to lead such a remarkable team of employees," Stehle said in a news release. "Arkansas Medicaid would not be in the national spotlight without their hard work and dedication."
As the Medicaid program's director of health care innovation, Stehle led the state's Health Care Payment Improvement Initiative, which state officials have credited with slowing the growth of spending in the traditional Medicaid program.
The initiative rewards doctors and other health care providers whose costs for providing certain "episodes of care" are below certain thresholds and penalizes those whose costs are considered excessive.
The initiative also provides payments to doctors who agree to take steps to better coordinate patient care.
"We were looking for someone who was not only willing to be a pioneer in Medicaid but also a person with a proven track record of success," Human Services Department Director John Selig said in the release. "Dawn has shown over and over again that she can tackle new tasks and turn innovative ideas into reality."
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, about 830,000 Arkansans were enrolled in Medicaid as of April 30, including those who became eligible under the expansion of the program approved by the Legislature last year.
Those covered by the traditional fee-for-service program include children from low-income families and poor people who are elderly or disabled.
The expansion extended eligibility to adults with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level: $16,105 for an individual, for instance, or $32,913 for a family of four.
More than 192,000 adults had been approved for coverage under the expanded program as of July 31.
Under the state's so-called private option, most of the newly eligible are covered through insurance plans purchased by the Medicaid program on the state's health insurance exchange.
For the fiscal year that began July 1, the state's Medicaid budget totals $6.4 billion, including $5 billion in federal funding.
Stehle, 34, began work in the Medicaid program in August 2006 through a fellowship with the Human Services Department and became a policy analyst in January 2007.
She was named the Human Services Department's director of policy and planning in April 2008 and became the Medicaid director of health care innovation four years later.
Stehle has a master's degree from the University of Arkansas' Clinton School of Public Service, where she was a member of the inaugural class, and is pursuing a doctorate of public health from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
She has a bachelor's degree in biology and social work from the University of South Dakota.
Her last name changed from Zekis after she married in June.
Her annual salary will be $117,299.60, a 10 percent increase from her salary as interim director, Webb said.
Stehle's salary as director of health care innovation was $88,863.
Allison announced in May that he would resign effective June 1, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and pursue opportunities in the private sector. He had been Medicaid director since December 2011.
The director's job opening drew 46 applications, Webb said.
Human Services Department officials interviewed one other candidate -- an executive with an Oklahoma-based Medicaid contractor, Webb said. Another finalist declined an interview, she said.
In the news release, Human Services Deputy Director Janie Huddleston called Stehle a "true team player who will value and empower her employees so that they will continue the successful transformation of the Medicaid system."
Sen. David Sanders, R-Little Rock and a sponsor of the law creating the private option, called Stehle "very good to work with and extremely thorough."
State Rep. David Meeks, R-Conway, who opposed expanding Medicaid, said Stehle "seems to be the right person for the job," adding that he has "always had a good working relationship with her."
"I look forward to working with her in her role and doing what is best for health care here in Arkansas," Meeks said.
Metro on 08/26/2014