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In an announcement from the ninth floor today, Governor Jan and the brew crew confirm that Anthony Rodgers will be leaving his position as head of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, and the administration has already found a replacement.
“I am pleased today to announce the appointment of Mr. Tom Betlach as the new AHCCCS Director,” Brewer says in the statement. “Tom has served as an instrumental component of the AHCCCS leadership for nearly eight years, and I am very pleased he has accepted this expanded role.”
Sounds like a little case of “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
Betlach has served as the agency’s deputy director since 2002 and was former Governor Jane Hull’s budget director starting in 1997.
“With over 18 years in service to the state of Arizona, Tom brings a wealth of financial and executive-level managerial experience that will be a tremendous asset in these challenging economic times,” Brewer says.
The AHCCCS is the state’s medicaid agency and provides coverage for more than 1.3 million Arizonans at a cost of more than $9 billion.
Brewer says Rodgers is leaving the post to take a consulting position with Health Management Associates, a national consulting firm. What, he didn’t want to stick around for round two of the legislative budget blunders?
Kate Aurelius will take over for Betlach in the deputy director spot.
