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Gov. Nikki Haley names insider Christian Soura as new Medicaid director [The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.](Post & Courier (Charleston, SC) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 10--The South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is often called the state Medicaid agency because the low-income health insurance program is its main -- and most expensive -- focus. But on top of Medicaid, the department also distributes millions of state and federal funds to hospitals to cover some of their uncompensated care costs and to train medical residents. Unlike other states with more comprehensive health departments, in South Carolina, public health programs -- such as vaccinations -- mental health programs and social services fall under separate agencies. Gov. Nikki Haley has tapped a trusted adviser to manage the state's $7 billion Medicaid program -- ensuring that her anti-Obamacare agenda seamlessly transitions from her first term to the next. On Nov. 20, Christian Soura, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, will replace Tony Keck as director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Soura quietly joined Keck's agency from Haley's office in early September as a special assistant to the director. He will earn $155,000 in the new role. The state Senate must officially confirm his appointment. "We provide services to about a million people in South Carolina. You have to be reflective and you have to make sure the direction we've set is the right one," Soura said. "We're on a pretty good path. Tony's been an important part of setting that path." Haley said at a Monday news conference that Soura has been a key part of her team and the behind-the-scenes brain of much of her policy agenda. The governor called him a "genius in his own right." Haley also said a more extensive search was not needed to lead the agency. "I knew going outside I wouldn't find anyone better than Christian," she said. As the new director, Soura will manage Medicaid -- the low-income health insurance program that covers nearly one in four South Carolinians. The federal government pays for about 70 percent of the state's Medicaid costs. Before joining Haley's administration in 2011, Soura spent a decade in public service in Pennsylvania under Republican and Democratic governors -- eventually serving as the state's secretary of administration and as chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Pennsylvania Employee Benefits Trust Fund, which manages the health insurance plan for state employees, their dependents and retirees. The 36-year-old holds graduate degrees in political science and public administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Penn State University. He was born in Philadelphia. "Christian is really an amazing guy. I've been working with him since I got here," Keck told The Post and Courier. "He's been in charge of writing the budgets and Medicaid is the biggest part of the budget." After four years in South Carolina, Keck is considered one of Haley's most powerful Cabinet members and perhaps state's loudest Obamacare critic. He is leaving South Carolina next month for an executive position with Mountain States Health Alliance, a hospital system based in Johnson City, Tenn. There, Keck will work for President and CEO Alan Levine, whom he served under in Louisiana at the Department of Health and Hospitals. During Keck's four-year tenure, the Medicaid program in South Carolina has steadily grown. According to data provided by the agency, the program will cost nearly $7 billion to administer this fiscal year, compared to $5.7 billion in 2012. In August, more than 1.1 million adults and children were enrolled in the Medicaid program, up from about 850,000 people four years ago. More than half of all Medicaid beneficiaries in South Carolina are children. Keck, who is considered by health care experts around the country as a progressive leader in a red state, streamlined the process for signing children up by culling information from other state agencies so that they may be automatically enrolled. He also launched a successful collaborative to improve infant health and renovated an existing family planning program into the new Healthy Connections Checkup, which will provide preventive screenings and family-planning benefits to an estimated 300,000 low- to middle- income adults. Despite these broadly popular initiatives, he may be best remembered for his uncompromising opposition to the new federal health care law. Keck has been adamant that South Carolina should not expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act. That position puts him at odds with the hospital industry, which argues that Haley's political agenda will hurt health care in South Carolina. Keck, whose department established a new health care transparency website last year, has often argued that the hospital lobby is wrong. "Hospital profits have almost doubled, health care employment has grown by 13,000 people, the number of job postings for hospital systems has doubled since we've been here," he said. "I think we've proven that here -- that you don't need Obamacare for hospitals to be successful." More than 300,000 low-income, uninsured South Carolinians would qualify for Medicaid if the state expanded eligibility under Obamacare. The federal government would have covered 100 percent of Medicaid expansion costs through 2017, after which the state would be expected to contribute some money, but never more than 10 percent of the total bill. A handful of Republican governors have accepted federal money for Medicaid expansion by striking compromises with the federal government. Soura said South Carolina will continue monitoring how that money is spent elsewhere, but agreed with Keck that this state can't afford to spend more on Medicaid when there are so many other pressing problems. "This is not the most effective use of the resources we have at our disposal," he said. Keck's last official day is Nov. 19. His wife, Shannon Robshaw, director of South Carolina Continuum of Care, an agency that helps emotionally disturbed children, is also leaving the state. Jeremy Borden contributed to this report. Reach Lauren Sausser at 937-5598. ___ (c)2014 The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.) Visit The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.) at www.postandcourier.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |