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About NASMD
What Is NASMD? | Organization | Executive Committee | Technical Advisory Groups
NASMD's Relationship with APHSA | Health Policy Unit
The National Association of State Medicaid Directors (NASMD) is a bipartisan, professional, nonprofit organization of representatives of state Medicaid agencies (including the District of Columbia and the territories). Since 1979, NASMD has been affiliated with the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA). The primary purposes of NASMD are: to serve as a focal point of communication between the states and the federal government, and to provide an information network among the states on issues pertinent to the Medicaid program.
NASMD is comprised of the officials who administer the Medicaid program in the states, the District of Columbia, and the territories. Generally these officials are the state Medicaid director and his or her senior staff. For the purpose of carrying out association business, each entity is limited to one voting member.
The 12-member Executive Committee consists of a chair, vice chair, immediate past chair, two representatives from each of 4 regions in the United States, and one representative from the U.S. Territories. The officers are elected by a national vote of the membership, and the regional representatives are elected by the state members of the appropriate region. The Executive Committee provides ongoing leadership for NASMD by overseeing association administrative matters, representing NASMD in meetings with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), serving as a liaison between the NASMD and the Technical Advisory Groups, and providing overall policy guidance. The Chair, Vice Chair, and all other Executive Committee members are elected in even-numbered years for terms of two years. The immediate past chair of the NASMD Executive Committee is automatically an officer of the Executive Committee for the two-year period immediately following his or her service as Chair.
The Chair of the NASMD Executive Committee has the most active role of the Executive Committee members, representing NASMD in meetings and correspondence with CMS, in testimony before Congress, and in discussions with other related organizations. In addition, the Chair is a member of APHSA's Board of Directors, and serves as vice-chair of the Health Care Committee of the APHSA National Council of State Human Service Administrators.
Technical Advisory Groups, or TAGs, are joint state-CMS workgroups convened to discuss or resolve a Medicaid program or operational issue. Whereas in the past many TAG memberships did not include anyone at the Medicaid director level, now generally one or two Medicaid directors serve on each of the TAGs. TAGs serve as a sounding board on technical issues; they do not set policy.
TAG members are responsible for communicating with states in their region. If an issue arises within a TAG that is viewed by the TAG members as having a significant policy implication, they refer the issue to their chairperson for discussion by the Executive Committee or by the full NASMD membership.
NASMD's Relationship with APHSA
NASMD closely interacts with APHSA's National Council of State Human Service Administrators, whose members are state cabinet secretaries, commissioners of human services, and the department directors responsible for the Medicaid program (In some states, the department director responsible for the Medicaid program and the Medicaid director are the same person). The Council provides a forum for the state administrators to discuss and develop positions on national policy issues and to exchange information on state management practices and experience.
NASMD is supported by the Health Policy Unit within APHSA's Policy & Government Affairs Division. The Health Policy division has several additional professional staff members.