Gov. McMaster to bring back former Sanford Medicaid director to lead SC agency

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Maayan Schechter
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Gov. Henry McMaster officially announced on Wednesday that he will nominate Robert Kerr to lead South Carolina’s Medicaid agency, which has been without a permanent director since December of last year.

If confirmed by the state Senate, Kerr would once again run the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.

Kerr ran the state agency under former Gov. Mark Sanford’s administration for about four years, then left in 2007 after 22 years with the agency to run a private health care consulting firm.

“Mr. Kerr is respected by Republicans and Democrats,” McMaster said.

The state’s lead Medicaid agency has been without a permanent director since last winter, after the resignation of Joshua Baker, who headed the agency for three years. McMaster had named Richland County’s Thomas Clark Phillip to serve as acting director.

Should Kerr be confirmed, Phillip will stay with the agency as the department’s chief financial officer.

In a one-page resignation letter to McMaster last year, Baker wrote the new year was an appropriate time to step down. He cited the state’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts, now in full force, as a time for a transition.

Aside Baker, two other top officials left the agency: Bryan Amick, chief strategy and innovation officer, and Erin Boyce, chief of staff.

As the potential lead of Health and Human Services, Kerr would once again be over a department handling the state’s Medicaid providers and benefits for adults, children, seniors and people who are considered low-income. He also would once again be back in an agency that has had to balance the politics of the state’s dispute over abortion clinics and Medicaid funds with existing policy and law.

An attempt to deny those funds to Planned Parenthood’s two clinics failed after the U.S. Supreme Court intervened.

This story will be updated.

Recommended Stories

  • Terry Crews started lifting to protect himself from abusive dad: 'I thought I'd have to fight him'

    Terry Crews is known for his extremely muscular physique, but the star's love of fitness started out of survival.

  • Lebanon's President Aoun holds central bank responsible for crisis

    Lebanon's President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday the central bank bore responsibility for the country's financial collapse and for stalling an audit which is a key condition for foreign aid the country badly needs. In a national address, Aoun accused Lebanese banks of squandering people's savings and the central bank governor of giving excuses for refusing to answer 73 out of 133 questions that consultancy Alvarez & Marsal had sent for the audit. "To the central bank I say: the main responsibility befalls you," he said, in his strongest criticism yet.

  • Bolsonaro dismisses being labeled 'genocidal' as daily COVID-19 deaths in Brazil top 4,000

    The situation is so dire in Brazil that experts warn its COVID-19 death toll could eventually surpass total deaths from the pandemic in the US.

  • Kenya Lamu mosque: Anger over T-shirt worn by Jay-Z

    An image of a Kenyan mosque was seen on a T-shirt worn by Jay-Z, causing anger among worshippers.

  • How to spot the symptoms of a blood clot

    Blood clots are a very rare side effect of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, but the EMA says the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the potential risks.

  • Trump adviser Giuliani asks judge to throw out $1.3 billion lawsuit over his 'big lie' election claims

    Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday asked a judge to throw out a voting machine company's $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit relating to his false claims about the November 2020 presidential election being rigged. Giuliani's lawyer said in a court filing that Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and because the company has not adequately justified its request for money damages. The filing said Giuliani denies defaming Dominion, adding that the former New York City mayor would present a more forceful defense on the merits if his jurisdictional arguments are rejected by the judge in the District of Columbia assigned to the case.

  • Women under 60 at far greater risk of rare clotting after AstraZeneca shot: German official

    Instances of rare clotting in women aged under 60 who received AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine were 20 times higher than would normally be expected, Christian Bogdan, a member of Germany's vaccine committee, said on Wednesday. His comments came as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Britain's medical regulator acknowledged a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine to rare cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelet counts. Most cases have been reported in women and, although very rare, their higher prevalence in a particular population group over a defined timeframe represented a "very clear risk signal", Bogdan told an online briefing.

  • China warns of "robust" response if U.S. boycotts Beijing Olympics

    The Chinese government on Wednesday warned the U.S. that it would respond strongly if Washington boycott's next year's Winter Olympics set to be held in Beijing, AP reports.Driving the news: The message comes after a State Department spokesman said at a briefing Tuesday that a joint boycott by the U.S. and its allies "is something that we certainly wish to discuss," in response to a question about how to punish China for what observers have described as a genocide against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"[W]hat the United States does is meaningful, what the United States does will have impact," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Tuesday.A State Department official later walked the comments back, insisting that "we have not discussed and are not discussing any joint boycott with allies and partners."Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian denied abuses against the region's Uyghur population, and promised a “robust Chinese response” against a potential boycott.“The politicization of sports will damage the spirit of the Olympic Charter and the interests of athletes from all countries,” Zhao said. “The international community including the U.S. Olympic Committee will not accept it.”Go deeper: New geopolitical fears surround 2022 Beijing OlympicsLike this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.

  • Gordon Ramsay's daughter revealed how much she prefers her mom's cooking, and we're not surprised

    Tilly Ramsay has once again roasted her dad's cooking on TikTok in favor of her mom's home cooking. But Gordon Ramsay fans shouldn't be too surprised.

  • Trump breaks his silence on Matt Gaetz, says he 'never' asked for a preemptive pardon and 'it must be remembered' that Gaetz denied the sex-trafficking allegations against him

    Trump's two-sentence statement on Wednesday was the first time he spoke out publicly on news that Gaetz is under a federal criminal investigation.

  • Jeffree Star was called a 'notorious racist' by rapper Yung Gravy after the mogul used his song in an Instagram story

    Yung Gravy reposted then removed Star's story, saying he "didn't realize" Star was a "notorious racist."

  • Poland extends COVID-19 curbs amid fears of Easter bounce

    Poland will extend COVID-19 restrictions until April 18, its health minister said on Wednesday, as the country struggles to cope with a third wave of infections that authorities fear could be aggravated by people mixing at Easter. Like its central European neighbours, Poland has seen its health service pushed to the brink by spiralling COVID-19 case numbers.

  • Iran ship said to be Red Sea troop base off Yemen attacked

    An Iranian ship believed to be a base for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and anchored for years in the Red Sea off Yemen has been attacked, Tehran acknowledged Wednesday. Iran's Foreign Ministry confirmed the attack on the MV Saviz, suspected to have been carried out by Israel — though Tehran did not immediately blame its regional archenemy. The assault came as Iran and world powers sat down in Vienna for the first talks about the U.S. potentially rejoining the tattered deal aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program, showing events outside the negotiations could derail those efforts.

  • Myanmar newlywed travelling home shot by military as junta seeks to crush opposition

    Among the daily stream of photos revealing the cruelty of Myanmar’s junta, blurred stills of the last moments of a young lady in pink, left to die on a deserted, dark street in Mandalay, paint a picture of abject horror. In one of the two photos, taken from a distance and shared widely on social media on Sunday night, the grievously injured woman lies motionless in sleeveless pale pink overalls, soiled by dirt and perhaps her own blood, one arm outstretched. In the second, she is seen face down, arms pointing towards the side of the main road, as if trying to crawl towards it in a desperate last bid to survive.

  • Beijing has surpassed New York City to become the new billionaire capital of the world

    The Chinese capital gained 33 billionaires in 2020 for total of 100, just edging out New York City with its 99 billionaires.

  • GOP House fundraisers accuse people who uncheck their recurring donation box of being Trump 'DEFECTORS' and prey to 'the Radical Left'

    The National Republican Congressional Committee's donation page warns that they'll "have to tell Trump you're a DEFECTOR & sided with the Dems."

  • Lawmakers scale back Florida prison reduction plans but cuts still appear to be coming

    The Florida Senate is easing back on a plan to shutter and demolish four state prisons, agreeing Wednesday to a proposal that would close a single, 1,500-bed correctional institution by Dec. 31.

  • Video shows a child abandoned at the US-Mexico border asking a Border Patrol agent for help

    Customs and Border Protection confirmed the video's authenticity and said the child was 10 years old, ABC13 Houston reported.

  • Taylor Swift fans joke that Joe Jonas will 'never be free' after she released a breakup song written around the time they dated in 2008

    The "Love Story" singer will unveil the rerecorded version of "Fearless" on Friday, including six songs that she wrote in 2008 but never released.

  • Neighbours stars allege racism on set of Australian soap opera

    Two Aboriginal-Australian actors have alleged they witnessed racism on the set of popular soap Neighbours. Shareena Clanton wrote on Instagram she experienced "multiple racist traumas" on the "highly problematic show". Meyne Wyatt tweeted and said he too had witnessed racism when he was a series regular on Neighbours from 2014 to 2016. Both stars, who are Australian and of indigenous descent, said they witnessed other cast members using racist terms. Clanton said: "I'll never work for this show again."