Medicaid and CHIP director Traylor to leave after 5 months
CHRIS TRAYLOR, the Trump administration’s third director of Medicaid and CHIP services, announced on Friday he will depart the CMS on May 31, leaving a position he was appointed to in January.
Traylor said in an email to the CMS staff that he is leaving because of family issues that require him to return to his home state of Texas.
“The opportunity to work with the caliber of professionals at CMS and specifically at CMCS is a privilege which few are able to experience,” Traylor wrote to his colleagues in an email. “The administrator has been extremely supportive of the work I’ve been doing at CMCS and my federal service has been one of the highlights of my career.”
Calder Lynch, currently senior counselor to CMS Administrator Seema Verma, will succeed Traylor as the acting director, according to the agency.
Traylor previously led the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for 11 months until 2016.
Before that he served a two-year term leading the state’s Department of Aging and Disability Services and was Texas’ Medicaid director for three years.
Traylor joined the CMS as the deputy administrator for strategic initiatives in September 2018 before being appointed to head up the Medicaid and CHIP services office.
Traylor helped to improve integration of Medicaid and CHIP functions between the CMS headquarters and regional offices, the agency said.
“Chris has made a lasting contribution to CMS that will greatly improve our organization far beyond this administration,” Verma said in a statement.
Traylor’s departure also comes just a few weeks after Tim Hill, deputy director of the office, also departed.
CMS veteran Karen Shields will serve as the deputy director.
Shields was previously the vice president of government contractor Serco’s health services business unit. ●