Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed Stephanie Muth to serve as Executive Commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) beginning Jan. 3, with a term set to expire on Feb. 1, 2027. The appointment follows the planned retirement of Executive Commissioner Cecile Erwin Young, who will step down Jan. 2 after more than three years in the role.
Muth brings over 25 years of experience in the Texas state government, including more than 15 years in senior leadership roles at HHSC. She has served as Chief of Staff to the Executive Commissioner, State Medicaid Director, Deputy Executive Commissioner for the Transformation Division, Deputy Executive Commissioner for the Office of Social Services and Associate Commissioner for Consumer and External Affairs. Earlier in her career, she worked in the Texas Legislature and executive branch.
While at HHSC, Muth led the overhaul of the state’s paper-based eligibility system for Medicaid, SNAP and other social services programs, increasing online applications from less than twenty percent to nearly seventy percent between 2011 and 2014. She also oversaw a major reorganization of health and human service programs that realigned more than 120 programs and 4,000 staff. As State Medicaid Director from 2017 to 2020, she managed policy and operations for a delivery system that provides services to more than four million Texans, including reforms that strengthened managed care oversight and accountability.
In 2023, Muth was appointed Commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), where she oversaw child protective services and the state’s foster care system. She left DFPS in July 2024 and later established a health and human services advisory firm. She also serves as a senior fellow with the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.
State officials said Muth’s experience positions her to lead HHSC through a period of continued operational and policy demands. As the agency’s top executive, Muth will manage a multibillion-dollar portfolio of health care delivery, eligibility systems and public assistance programs that reach millions of Texans each year.
Muth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Florida and a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a former board member of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, previously represented Texas in the American Public Human Services Association and is an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Medicaid Leadership Institute.
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