Dennis G. Smith, former head of Medicaid under President George W. Bush, will become a visiting faculty member at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and senior adviser for Medicaid and Health Care Reform for the state Department of Human Services effective Sept. 15.
“Dennis will be teaching students and advising faculty and staff about health policy,” said Dan Rahn, UAMS chancellor. “Although he will only be spending a small percentage of his time at UAMS, we believe the experience and policy knowledge that he brings with him will be invaluable to our students and employees.”
His duties at UAMS will include teaching College of Public Health students, providing lectures on matters related to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) policies and practices to UAMS faculty and staff, mentoring graduate students and advising faculty on CMS national and state policy. His appointment is through June 30.
Ninety percent of Smith’s time will be spent providing Medicaid policy and operations support to DHS. DHS Director Cindy Gillespie said Smith will provide input and real-world experience with major health reforms as the state looks to modernize its Medicaid program.
Smith served as CMS’s director of Medicaid and State Operations from 2001 to 2008. In addition to Medicaid, he was responsible for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and the survey and certification arm of CMS. During his time at CMS, Smith also served four months as the acting administrator of agency.
Smith left CMS to work as a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and eventually became secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services under Gov. Scott Walker from 2011 to 2013. He has been in the private sector since March 2013 with McKenna Long and Aldridge and then Dentons U.S. when the two firms merged.
Sign up for Daily E-news
