Governor names longtime state pharmacy director to lead Missouri Medicaid program

Josh Moore is the new director of MO HealthNet Division, taking over the agency that administers Missouri’s Medicaid program, according to a news release from the state’s social services department Wednesday.

Moore, who has served since 2019 as MO HealthNet’s pharmacy director, succeeds Todd Richardson, the former Missouri House speaker who resigned from his role in October after seven years in the job.

Moore’s appointment comes as MO HealthNet and the state’s social services department prepare to implement Medicaid eligibility changes passed by Congress in July as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Work requirements and twice-yearly eligibility recertifications beginning in 2027 could cause 130,000 of the 1.25 million Missourians currently on Medicaid to lose coverage, according to one Princeton University estimate.

Read more from the Missouri Independent.