Governor Chet Culver appointed Gene Gessow to serve as the Director of the Iowa Department of Human Services.   "I’m pleased to name Gene Gessow to lead the Iowa Department of Human Services,” said Governor Culver.  "Gene’s years of experience in state government, both here in Iowa and around the country, make him uniquely qualified to serve as director.  And in his current role, he has served on the management team for DHS, which helped transform the department into one of the best in the nation and – according to the Commonwealth Fund – made Iowa the number one state for children’s health care.  But more importantly, it is his compassion and care for the people of this state that sets him apart.  He shares my goal of increasing access to health care for all Iowans, and I look forward to working with him, and with all Iowans, to help move Iowa forward.”  

 “I am very pleased and excited about the opportunity to help Governor Culver realize his vision for sustaining and strengthening human service programs to build Iowa's future,” said Gene Gessow.  “I appreciate his confidence and will make every effort to meet his high performance standards and expectations.”

Gessow currently serves as Iowa’s Medicaid Director, a position he has held since 2003.  In this capacity, he has managed the second largest budget line item in the state’s budget, and has helped to secure an additional $250 million in federal funds for health care for low income Iowans. 

Gessow has also been a strong advocate for covering the uninsured.  During his five years at the Department of Human Services, he conceived and implemented the IowaCare program, which has provided more than 60,000 people with health care over the last three years.  In addition, in just the last year, he has been instrumental in growing the number of children covered by the state’s HAWK-I and Medicare program by more than 9,000.

Prior to this, Gene was the Director of Medical Services for the Maine Department of Human Services, and has also served as the Deputy Secretary for Finance in New Mexico and the Budget Director for Massachusetts Medicaid.

Gessow will begin serving as director immediately.  The Director of the Department of Human Services requires confirmation by the Senate, and serves at the pleasure of the Governor.

Additional Information

Updated: September 18, 2008