Hospital group signals support for Ron DeSantis’ AHCA Secretary

Mary Mayhew (Image via AP)

Former Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Justin Senior is expressing confidence in his successor, Mary Mayhew.

“Every life matters and every Floridian deserves access to the highest level of care at the most affordable price,” Senior wrote in a Monday letter to Senate President Bill Galvano on behalf of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, or SNHAF. “It is because of the Secretary’s shared focus on this mission that we are pleased to support Mary Mayhew’s nomination and are hopeful she will be quickly confirmed.”

Senior left AHCA last year and took a CEO spot at SNHAF. Gov. Ron DeSantis early last month tapped Mayhew to lead AHCA.

Mayhew had previously served in the Donald Trump administration as Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, where she oversaw the management of the $375 billion federal Medicaid program serving over 74 million individuals. Prior to joining the Trump administration, Mayhew served as commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services for six years under then-Gov. Paul LePage.

“Our organization strongly shares Secretary Mayhew’s commitment to Florida’s health care safety net, a commitment she has already expressed in appearances before legislative committees,” Senior wrote. “Our organization represents 14 non-profit hospital systems throughout the state and includes public hospitals, teaching hospitals, children’s hospitals, and Regional Perinatal Intensive Care Centers.”

Senior said those hospital systems “treat a disproportionate share of low income patients in Florida, particularly Medicaid patients and the uninsured, regardless of low (or even no) reimbursement.”

“Moreover, our hospitals see the majority of Florida’s most critically ill patients — in fact, the more critical the patient, the more likely the patient is to be seen by one of our member hospitals,” Senior added.