Ray Hanley is a featured panelist for the upcoming Medicaid News Roundtable Webinar on May 27th. RESERVE your seat today at bit.ly/1S4sns9!
Medicaid Who’s Who: Ray Hanley – CEO of Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care
- What is your current position and with what organization?
A: The CEO of Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, a 240-employee organization that sprang from the old PROs of the 1970s, but which today does a wide variety of work for Medicaid, Medicare and others.
- How many years have you been in the Medicaid industry?
A: I began as an Medicaid eligibility caseworker in 1974, went on to managed Medicaid UR, and then Medicaid Director for Arkansas for 16 years, then to EDS/HP as client executive working with Medicaid agencies.
3. What is your focus/passion? (Industry related or not)
A: Improving access to health care and improving the quality of that care which is one of the reasons I led the 35 organization “AR Health, AR Jobs Coalition” that worked to pass expanded Medicaid coverage in Arkansas.
- What is the top item on your “bucket list?”
A: Help move Arkansas substantially up in health rankings among states.
- What do you enjoy doing most with your personal time?
A: Biking around the world since I had to give up running marathons 4 years ago with bad knees, so far I have biked on four continents. Otherwise spending time with my family at a log cabin near the Buffalo National River in the rugged Arkansas Mountains.
I’ve also put into print 20 Arkansas history books.
- Who is your favorite historical figure and why?
A: Teddy Roosevelt who created the conservation movement from his “bully pulpit”
- What is your favorite junk food?
A: Pizza
- Of what accomplishment are you most proud?
A: Two daughters who, while raising 4 young children between them, turned out to be outstanding people and health care professionals in their own right.
- For what one thing do you wish you could get a mulligan?
A: Since I’ve never played golf, I have no idea how to answer that.
10. What are the top 1-3 issues that you think will be important in Medicaid during the next 6 months?
- Access … too many states have not expanded coverage, especially in the South.
- Access … in that too many providers won’t see Medicaid patients in part because the rates are too low … coverage without access is self-defeating.
- Quality improvement … driven by wider use of outcome-based payment metrics and refinement of the patient-centered medical home concept.