02/26/2014
Bio - John McCarthy
Director, Ohio Department of Medicaid
State Medicaid Director John McCarthy oversees the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM). As Ohio’s first cabinet-level state Medicaid agency, ODM makes health care available to more than 2.3 million Ohioans through a network of 100,000+ providers. The department serves as a cornerstone of the Governor’s Office of Health Transformation (OHT), which Governor John R. Kasich created in 2011. In conjunction with OHT Director Greg Moody, Director McCarthy and his team have already implemented a series of innovative policy initiatives that have helped to modernize the fragmented Medicaid system in Ohio, improve the quality of health services available to consumers and families, and provide the best value to taxpayers. Under McCarthy’s leadership, ODM has already transformed Ohio’s Medicaid landscape by:
- launching the Medicaid Information Technology System (MITS), a new Medicaid claims processing system to boost efficiency and communications with over 70,000 providers across the state;
- becoming just the third state to reach an agreement with CMS over the integration and coordination of care for individuals enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare;
- implementing a new managed care program across the state that provides more choice to Ohio’s 1.6 million Medicaid managed care beneficiaries;
- refocusing efforts and resources toward more home- and community-based services for Medicaid beneficiaries; and
- containing program growth and saving Ohio taxpayers more than $2 billion. Prior to the start of the Kasich Administration, spending for the state’s Medicaid program had increased 33 percent over three years. Two years later, under McCarthy’s leadership, spending growth was reined in to less than 4 percent by 2013.
Prior to overseeing Ohio Medicaid, McCarthy served as Medicaid Director for the District of Columbia. He also spent ten years with EP&P Consulting, where he worked with many states, including Ohio, to help reform their Medicaid programs through home- and community-based waiver programs, new coverage initiatives, and rate setting.
McCarthy has a master’s degree in public affairs from Indiana University‘s School of Public and Environmental Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Indiana University.