It's not too hard to believe that Medicaid, the safety net insurer for low-income and disabled patients, promises to strain state budgets and tax lawmakers' creativity for years to come. Budget woes have sent states such as Ohio and Tennessee scrambling for ways to moderate Medicaid's costs in recent years while others, including Missouri, are expected to tackle reform soon. All of which leaves Alan Levine sitting
squarely on the front lines of the nation's
debate over Medicaid reform. Levine, 38,
orchestrated Florida's 2005 Medicaid overhaul
as the Agency for Health Care Administration
secretary under Gov. Jeb Bush. Now, Levine
has landed a job running a public health
system in one of two Florida counties that will
LEVINE pilot the market-driven Medicaid reforms.
Levine beat out roughly 80 candidates to
succeed Wil Trower as president and chief
executive officer of the North Broward Hospital District, Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., the fourth-largest U.S. public hospital system,
according to Modern Healthcare's latest Hospital Systems Survey.