Governor Doug Ducey today announced the appointment of Jami Snyder as the director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS).
Snyder has served as deputy director of AHCCCS since December of 2017. Prior to joining Arizona’s Medicaid agency, she served as Medicaid Director for the state of Texas and as Chief Operating Officer of the University of Arizona Health Plans. She also previously held posts as an Operations Administrator at AHCCCS and a Bureau Chief at the Arizona Department of Health Services. Snyder will succeed Tom Betlach who will retire as Director of AHCCCS on January 4 after 27 years of service to the state of Arizona.
“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,” said Governor Ducey. “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.”
“I’m honored to be asked to serve as the eighth Medicaid Director for the State of Arizona,” said Director Snyder. “Serving 1 in 4 Arizonans, AHCCCS is a national leader in providing high quality, cost-effective care. 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.”
“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,” said Deb Gullett, Executive Director of the Arizona Association of Health Plans. “With her depth of knowledge of the AHCCCS program and its managed care structure, we know the agency is well positioned for continued success.”
Justin Chase, President and CEO of Crisis Response Network, added, “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.”
Snyder, a 2013 Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Academy Fellow, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Gustavus Adolphus College and went on to earn a master’s degree in political science from Arizona State University.
