Justin Senior resigns from agency overseeing Medicaid, hospitals
By Christine Sexton
| News Service of Florida |
TALLAHASSEE — The state's top health-care regulator is stepping down effective Jan. 7.
Justin Senior, secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, sent an email to his staff Tuesday saying he will leave the agency to pursue an "outside opportunity." The Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida later revealed that Senior will become the group's chief executive officer.
AHCA oversees the state's Medicaid program and regulates health-care facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes.
"I do not have words to describe how much I have enjoyed working at AHCA and with all of you — it just has been an incredible experience and one that I will always deeply appreciate," he wrote in the email to AHCA's staff. "The work that you do positively impacts the lives of millions of Floridians.''
Nova Southeastern tells orthodontic patients some surgical equipment wasn't sterilized properly
By Naseem S. Miller
Senior had been seen as a potential agency head who might remain after the transition from the administration of Gov. Rick Scott to the new administration of Republican Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis.
At AHCA, Senior advocated for steep reductions in the amount of Medicaid payments to safety-net hospitals. While hospitals complained about the reductions, Senior, echoing his boss, Scott, repeatedly told lawmakers that hospitals made money.
Senior also helped oversee the state's transformation of its massive Medicaid program from a fee-for-service program to one that now enrolls most patients in privately run health maintenance organizations.
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, part of the DeSantis transition team, said no decision has been made on who will replace Senior. He said the transition team has conducted interviews, but it is "not close to an announcement on anyone."
Disney World: Return to Rafiki's Planet Watch includes animation experience
Senior, whose resignation is effective the day before DeSantis is inaugurated, has been the head of AHCA since October 2016, when he took over for veteran state official Liz Dudek. Before he moved into the top job at the agency, he was Florida's Medicaid director for five years. Prior to that, he worked in the agency's general counsel's office.
In his new role at the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, Senior will serve as the organization's CEO, while Lindy Kennedy will assume the title of president and chief operating officer, according to the announcement from the group.
The alliance lobbies on behalf of 14 hospital and health systems across the state, including public, children's and teaching hospitals that treat some of the poorest patients. Combined, the hospitals provide nearly 50 percent of all Medicaid hospital care.
Senior will be precluded from lobbying AHCA but will not be banned from lobbying lawmakers.
Rick Scott
Most Read • Business