Governor Katie Hobbs Accepts Resignations of AHCCCS Director Carmen Heredia, ADHS Director Jennie Cunico

“Carmen Heredia helped root out a multi-billion dollar wave of Medicaid fraud and the related humanitarian fallout which the previous administration ignored,” said Governor Katie Hobbs. “She improved maternal, infant, and child health in Arizona by increasing access to maternity care in rural communities and expanding health coverage to 10,000 working class children through KidsCare. Heredia protected vital healthcare for everyday Arizonans. Her work to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in our healthcare system is a model for the nation, and she always ensured people who needed help continued to get it. That’s something every Arizonan can support.

“Jennie Cunico helped increase transparency and accountability in healthcare licensing following Arizona’s recent behavioral health fraud schemes and the Hacienda Healthcare scandal. Her significant work related to Alzheimer's disease resulted in improved standards for long-term care to prevent elder abuse, and the creation of the Alzheimer's Disease State Plan, which emphasizes awareness, caregiver support, workforce development, and research. Cunico collaborated across the administration to develop and implement Arizona’s Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan, which led to a decrease in heat-related deaths in 2024 despite Maricopa County experiencing its hottest summer on record, and she played a significant role in our state’s response to the ongoing fentanyl crisis.

“Unfortunately, the Senate’s unprecedented politicization of the director confirmation process has ended the directorship of two healthcare professionals who have made our state government run more efficiently and more effectively. The people of Arizona are tired of the relentless politics that has undermined good governance in the name of partisan retribution. It should not matter whether the leaders of our state government are Democrats or Republicans; it should matter that our state is run by public servants who do what’s right for everyday people. That is the leadership that Carmen Heredia and Jennie Cunico showed. But that is not what the people of our state can expect from the Senate majority.”

Jake Hoffman continued his partisan witch hunt prior to the nominees’ hearings, requesting public records dating back to 2020 to relitigate conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 epidemic spread by his social media troll farm operation. The troll farm owner used the same conspiracy theories to attack previously nominated Dr. Teresa Cullen.

Carmen Heredia led AHCCCS for over two years, during which she ended a series of Medicaid fraud schemes by spearheading critical reforms. As a result, AHCCCS realized savings and recoveries totalling $291.4 million in SFY 2023, $318.6 million in SFY 2024, and $297.2 million in SFY 2025. Heredia restructured the agency and fostered a renewed culture of trust and accountability. She leveraged managed care with an emphasis on quality, to deliver efficient and effective services to everyday Arizonans. Additionally, Heredia oversaw the expansion of KidsCare, and the implementation of AHCCCS Housing and Health Opportunities (H2O) to provide expanded Medicaid services for Arizonans with serious mental illness. She oversaw the successful transition of the largest number of Arizonans from the AHCCCS member rolls to employer-sponsored or marketplace insurance plans in Arizona history. Heredia was working to launch a first-of-its-kind technical assistance program to support quality behavioral health providers in Arizona, and she successfully worked with stakeholders to launch workforce development programs to address Arizona’s looming healthcare workforce crisis.

“It is with a heavy heart that I tender my resignation as Director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS),” said Carmen Heredia. “Serving the people of Arizona — especially our most vulnerable — has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life. However, it has become increasingly difficult to carry out this mission in good faith under the current political climate. I am deeply concerned about the escalating politicization of state agency leadership roles under the Republican-led Legislature. The intrusion of partisan agendas that drag professionals through career damaging hearings is not an effective way to attract and retain qualified people in these critical roles and has made it increasingly challenging to serve Arizona agencies effectively.

“I believe public service should be about people — not politics. When political theater begins to outweigh sound policy and when governance is shaped more by ideology than by data and facts, outcomes suffer. And those who suffer most are the individuals and families who rely on Medicaid for essential health care services.”

Jennie Cunico is a career public servant who oversaw ADHS’s transition from the previous administration. Under Cunico’s steady leadership, ADHS collaborated with Arizona hospitals to implement best practices to improve maternal and infant health outcomes, cracked down on bad actors targeting vulnerable Arizonans, and oversaw responses to dangerous food contamination outbreaks, including lead poisoning impacting Arizona children. During a time of unprecedented attacks on American public health, Cunico continued to work closely with the county health departments in all 15 Arizona counties and with ADHS’s Tribal partners, and always emphasized data-driven decision-making. Cunico successfully launched a program to safely transport patients from rural and tribal hospitals, which has become a national model, and she grew the state’s naloxone distribution program, which distributed more than 112,000 lifesaving naloxone kits in the last year alone.

“The decision has been a difficult one for me to make, as I am extremely proud of the work that has occurred during my tenure and the relationships I’ve built during my time as Director,” said Jennie Cunico. “However, it is clear to me that there is no path forward to confirmation. I want to express my appreciation for your trust in naming me to the Director position, and for the opportunities I've had to grow professionally over the past two years. It has been an honor to serve the State in this capacity and to work with the team at ADHS who consistently demonstrate an unwavering dedication, brilliance, and compassion each day to promote and protect the health and wellbeing of all Arizonans.”