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DSS opposes bill to require legislative confirmation for Medicaid director, warns politicization could harm program continuity
Summary
Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves told the Human Services Committee she strongly opposes Senate Bill 13‑60, which would require legislative confirmation of the state's Medicaid director, saying the move could politicize a technical leadership post and threaten continuity in a $10 billion program.
Department of Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves told the Human Services Committee she opposes Senate Bill 13‑60, which would make the state’s Medicaid director a legislatively confirmed appointment. The commissioner’s written and oral testimony said the change would inject politics into a role she described as requiring continuity and deep subject‑matter expertise.
Reeves said Connecticut’s Medicaid director has traditionally been a classified position and that prior long‑serving directors — including Kate McAvoy and others — served through multiple administrations. "A politically appointed Medicaid director does not lend itself to the stability and consistency that our Medicaid program really needs," she testified, adding that the state’s Medicaid program is among the nation’s higher performing systems and that continuity in leadership has contributed to that record.
Committee members asked how the Medicaid director position is currently classified; DSS staff confirmed the position is a classified (non‑political) staff role. Several legislators said they raised the confirmation idea to create more legislative oversight and public accountability for a position that manages a multi‑billion‑dollar program and affects hundreds of thousands of residents, and invited the agency to discuss alternative oversight mechanisms. The commissioner offered to work with lawmakers to examine other states’ models and to provide examples showing how confirmation could affect recruitment and transitions.
Why it matters: The bill pits two widely shared goals against one another — legislative oversight of a major public program and protection of continuity and technical knowledge at the program leadership level. The committee discussion suggested lawmakers want to explore models used in other states but that DSS is wary of creating a political appointment that may create turnover and delay in a program that accounts for a large portion of the state budget.
