State Medicaid Director Leaving June 1

Andy Allison, Arkansas’ Medicaid Director, will leave his position on June 1 to “pursue other opportunities outside state government,” the Department of Human Services said Friday.

Allison helped guide the state’s Medicaid system through a historic and tumultuous transition period.

He was a major contributor in fashioning Arkansas’ Private Option plan, which tapped Medicaid expansion money for private health insurance for low income citizens.

Allison also helped guide other Medicaid reform efforts, such as the Payment Improvement Initiative that has helped curb the growth of Medicaid and altered the “fee-for-service” system to a “episodic care” program.

“Gov. Beebe, John Selig and DHS Deputy Director Janie Huddleston gave me the opportunity to lead the most innovative Medicaid program in the country. It has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I am deeply appreciative,” Allison said. “The team I joined and that we have built up at DMS over the past two and a half years is dynamic and strong. I expect to see great things from them in the coming years.”

Dawn Zekis, Medicaid’s director of Health Care Innovation since April 2012, will serve as interim Medicaid director while DHS conducts a national search for a new director, DHS said.

“Andy has done a tremendous job here at a critical time, Selig said. “When we were searching for a Medicaid Director, we repeatedly heard that he should be at the top of our list. Andy has a remarkable combination of program knowledge, raw intellect and national clout, and has been masterful in leading our efforts to transform Arkansas’s health system and implement the nationally-acclaimed Private Option. We will miss him.”

Allison was hired as the state’s Medicaid director in November 2011.