As expected, Andy Allison today was named acting executive director of the Kansas Health Policy Authority.
The decision was announced today during a meeting of the agency’s board after members had spent about 40 minutes in executive session to discuss personnel matters.
Allison, 42, currently is deputy director at the agency and its Medicaid director. He will assume the top spot effective June 1.
Executive Director Marcia Nielsen announced earlier this month she would step down to return to the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Board chairman Joe Tilghman said he wasn’t sure yet if members would want to form a search committee to seek a permanent replacement for Nielsen. Allison has been her right-hand person more or less since the agency was created in 2005. He is well regarded by most board members.
Ken Daniel, newly appointed to the board, told KHI News Service after the Tuesday meeting that he would be happy to see Allison named to the slot without the trouble of seeking alternate candidates.
But Tilghman said the board would discuss further its plans for naming a permanent agency chief during its June retreat.
Before joining the health policy authority, Allison spent six years at the Kansas Health Institute as a researcher and director of Health Care Finance and Organization. His research focused primarily on the effectiveness, availability and cost of health care and health insurance in Kansas.
He worked as a Medicaid budget analyst at the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C., from 1992 to 1995. He has a bachelor’s degree in history, a master’s degree in Public Policy, and a doctorate in economics.