Gov. Ducey appoints new director of Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System

Jami Snyder will be taking over the position of director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) today.

On Dec. 31, 2018, Governor Doug Ducey (R-Arizona) announced he would appoint Snyder as the director of AHCCCS following former director Tom Betlach’s retirement.

“I’m honored to be asked to serve as the eighth Medicaid Director for the State of Arizona,” Snyder said. “Over the last 12 months in my role as deputy director, I have partnered with the team at AHCCCS to understand the operational underpinnings that have fostered the agency’s success and to promote the long-standing strategic vision of the program. In the years ahead, I look forward to working with stakeholders across the state in advancing that vision while exploring new opportunities to enhance member engagement; to support cost-effective innovation that improves access to care, and to partner with the broader community to address the social factors that increasingly influence individual health outcomes.”

Snyder has served as the deputy director of AHCCCS since Dec. 2017.

“With an over 20-year career in the health and human services industry and prior experience atop a state Medicaid agency, Jami is more than qualified to take the lead at AHCCCS,” Ducey said in his announcement. “I am pleased that Jami will bring her unique insight and expertise to Arizona’s Medicaid agency, which provides quality health care to over 1.8 million Arizonans.”

AHCCCS was founded in 1982 and is Arizona’s Medicaid program.

The $12 billion program’s mission is to “provide comprehensive, quality health care to those in need”

“We are excited to partner with Jami in her new capacity as AHCCCS director and confident in her ability to build on all our efforts to date,” Deb Gullett, Executive Director of the Arizona Association of Health Plans said. “With her depth of knowledge of the AHCCCS program and its managed care structure, we know the agency is well positioned for continued success.”

“Over the many years that I’ve enjoyed working with Jami, I’ve been especially impressed by her passion for—and commitment to—creating a health care delivery system focused on whole person health. From integrating behavioral health care to creating robust crisis services, to beginning to address social factors that affect health outcomes, I know that Jami’s leadership will advance the innovative work for which AHCCCS is known,” Justin Chase, President, and CEO of Crisis Response Network added.

Snyder also served as an Operations Administrator at AHCCCS and a Bureau Chief at the Arizona Department of Health Services, as well as a Medicaid Director for the state of Texas and as Chief Operating Officer of the University of Arizona Health Plans.