By Jocelyn Guyer
After two weeks in New Hampshire and Maine and a few extra cups of coffee to get moving, I returned from vacation yesterday to find this very interesting development in my inbox – the nation’s Medicaid directors are breaking away from the American Public Human Services Association to start their own independent organization – the National Association of Medicaid Directors. In explaining why they are making the change, the new President of NAMD, Carol Steckel of Alabama Medicaid, explained “Healthcare reform is dramatically changing the face of Medicaid in all of our states and with those changes brings the need for a change to an organization specifically focused on Medicaid and its Directors.”
Since I got myself in serious trouble over vacation by expressing an opinion on a family member’s new boyfriend, I’m officially out of the business of offering my thoughts on anyone else’s relationships, including that of the nation’s Medicaid Directors with APHSA. So, leaving aside whether the split was a good idea or not, I do think it is clear that Medicaid is entering a new era. As a companion program created alongside Medicare in 1965, it long has been a cornerstone of the nation’s health care system, especially for low-income children and families. And, now it is destined for even greater things in the months and years ahead as we move toward broader health reform.
The success of both organizations and close collaboration between them will be vital to fostering the critical connections between health care and other social services programs needed to improve the lives of America’s families.