The head of North Carolina's Medicaid program is resigning. Carol Steckel had been one of the people pushing a proposed overhaul of the state's Medicaid program. Now she's leaving after just eight months on the job.
Carol Steckel took the helm of the Medicaid program at a rough time.
About a week after her first day, a state audit came out that said the program had been horribly managed in terms of costs and budgeting. So Steckel was one of the people who drove a proposal to overhaul it.
It would've put three or four massive organizations in charge of managing Medicaid services for everyone. Those organizations would've been on the hook if they went over budget. They could've been quasi-governmental agencies or private companies. Steckel was still working on the details.
And now she's leaving. It's unclear what that means for the overhaul. Steckel and the head of the state health department were unavailable for interviews.
Steckel is going to work for WellCare Health Plans, a company in Florida that manages Medicaid and other government-based services. It's the kind of business that could play a role in North Carolina's proposed overhaul.
