Former Deputy Administrator & Director of Medicaid & the Children's Health Insurance Program (HHS)
Resigned: 1-4-2019Who is Mary Mayhew?
Mary Mayhew resigned from her position at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) just a few months after she was appointed by President Trump. Before her brief stint with HHS, she served as Maine’s commissioner of Health and Human Services — where she spent years working to dismantle the state’s Medicaid program. At HHS, Mayhew was expected to take the same ax to the federal Medicaid program and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
“[Mayhew] destroyed Medicaid in Maine. [Now], she will destroy it in the whole country.”
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What Mary Mayhew Briefly Controlled at HHS
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
CMS oversees Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), providing health care for one in four Americans. CMS also is responsible for managing HealthCare.gov., as well as health care privacy and certain nationwide provider quality standards.
The Trump-Pence Administration’s Medicaid Policies
Planned Parenthood
Medicaid
Public Benefits for Immigrants
Background on Mary Mayhew
Blocking Medicaid Expansion in Maine
Mainers voted to expand Medicaid in the state — but Mary Mayhew still blocked it. Mayhew’s efforts kept 80,000 Mainers from accessing health care coverage they needed through Medicaid.
Press HeraldMayhew said that she’s vehemently anti-abortion and supports policy that restricts access to safe, legal abortion.
Bangor Daily NewsMayhew’s tactics would have endangered Medicaid coverage for millions of women — who make up a majority of adult Medicaid beneficiaries and who rely on Medicaid for birth control, maternity care, cancer screenings, long-term services, and other essential care.
Planned Parenthood Action: Health Care EquityMayhew’s efforts to restrict Medicaid in Maine coincided with severe negative health outcomes — including devastating consequences for women and families. During Mayhew’s tenure, Maine’s infant mortality rate skyrocketed, the percentage of uninsured children rose, and the state’s national health ranking dropped from 8th in the country to 23rd.
ThinkProgressMayhew’s appointment as the nation’s Medicaid director was part of the Trump-Pence administration's pattern of installing leaders dedicated to gutting the very programs they’re charged with overseeing.
Vox