WellCare hires N.C. Medicaid director

TAMPA — WellCare Health Plans Inc. has hired Carol Steckel, North Carolina's director of medical assistance, as the company's senior director of public policy. According to her resignation letter, Steckel is scheduled to resign her job with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services by Oct. 11.

Steckel has led the state's Medicaid division since Jan. 22. She was hired away from Louisiana, where she is credited with coordinating the state's response to the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Prior to that she led Alabama's Medicaid office from 1988-1992 and from 2003-2010. Steckel is a past president of the National Medicaid Directors' Association.

In an email to the Business Observer, Crystal Warwell Walker, spokeswoman for WellCare Health Plans, wrote “Carol's extensive experience in managing operations and directing policy to help drive effective and efficient Medicaid programs in multiple states, along with her understanding of health care reform and innovations will be an asset in our mission to deliver quality, cost-effective health care solutions to our members and government customers.”