Anthony Appointed Oklahoma Health Care Authority Chief State Medicaid Director

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, Aug. 29 -- The Oklahoma Health Care Authority issued the following news release:

Oklahoma Health Care Authority CEO Kevin Corbett has appointed Melody Anthony chief state Medicaid director and reappointed her as chief operating officer. She previously served as deputy state Medicaid director.

"I am so grateful to be a part of this organization. The fact that I lead a team of dedicated individuals, whose everyday work has an impact on so many Oklahomans makes my job extremely fulfilling," Anthony said. "I look forward to advancing our programs in ways that will continue to improve the health of the SoonerCare members we serve."

Anthony has more than 20 years' experience in health care, both in the private and public sector. She holds a master's degree in the science of management.

As a member of the agency's executive leadership team, Anthony oversees multiple functions that touch more than one million Oklahoma lives each year. Her areas of responsibility include Member Services, Provider/Medical Home Services, Population Care Management, Behavioral Health, Pharmacy, Health Care System Innovation and Insure Oklahoma. Her team focuses on value-based purchasing and return on investment, innovative care coordination models and addressing public health challenges such as the opioid crisis and infant mortality.

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About the Oklahoma Health Care Authority

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) administers two health programs for the state. The first is SoonerCare, Oklahoma's Medicaid program. SoonerCare works to improve the health of qualified Oklahomans by ensuring that medically necessary benefits and services are available. Qualifying Oklahomans include certain low-income children, seniors, the disabled, those being treated for breast or cervical cancer and those seeking family planning services. The second program OHCA operates is Insure Oklahoma, which assists qualifying adults and small business employees in obtaining health care coverage for themselves and their families. Currently, there are 809,162 Oklahomans enrolled in OHCA's programs. The agency contracts with a network of 54,643 providers. For more information, visit www.okhca.org or www.insureoklahoma.org.