JEFFERSON CITY — Gov.-elect Jay Nixon chooses a former health care executive to lead the Department of Social Services.
Nixon said Tuesday that he will appoint Ronald Levy to direct the agency that oversees Missouri’s Medicaid, juvenile justice, foster care and public aid programs.
Levy retired in November 2007 as president and chief executive officer of SSM Health Care in St. Louis and has since served as a consultant for it.
Levy says one of his goals is to help Nixon expand health coverage to children. He says he opposed the 2005 Medicaid cuts enacted by Gov. Matt Blunt. But he backed Blunt’s Insure Missouri proposal that would have expanded government-subsidized health care to low-income workers.
Nixon takes office Jan. 12. Levy’s appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.