The National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) began as an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit, professional organization in 2011. Medicaid directors previously were represented as part of a larger umbrella group of agencies under the American Public Human Services Association, known as the National Association of State Medicaid Directors (NASMD). In 2010, state Medicaid directors voted unanimously to reincorporate as a separate group. Despite NAMD’s young history, Medicaid and state Medicaid directors have existed since 1965. NAMD represents members who oversee Medicaid in each of the 50 states, District of Columbia and U.S. territories. Medicaid directors are the senior leaders in states driving major innovations in health care while overseeing Medicaid, one of the nation’s most vital – and complex – health care safety net programs, which covers more than 72 million Americans. Medicaid directors work tirelessly to provide the best possible health care to vulnerable Americans while being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.