Idaho health official nominated to federal Health and Human Services role in Trump administration
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Alex Adams joins state officials and business leaders to announce the Idaho State Park Foster Family Passport at Lucky Peak State Park, as foster parents and families stand behind him. (Kyle Pfannenstiel/Idaho Capital Sun)
President Donald Trump nominated Idaho's new top health official to a role in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS.
Alex Adams, who has been the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare's director since June 2024, is tapped to serve as the HHS assistant secretary for family support.
The U.S. Senate, which confirms presidential nominations, received the president's nomination of Adams on Monday. It isn't immediately clear when his confirmation hearings are planned.
The Idaho governor's office and Adams couldn't be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.
Adams previously served for years as Idaho Gov. Brad Little's budget chief, and also served as interim Idaho Public Charter School Commission director, executive director of the Idaho Board of Pharmacy and formerly worked in the pharmacy industry.
Soon after he took over the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Adams announced foster care as a top priority.
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Adams holds a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University, along with a bachelor's degree and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Toledo in Ohio.
Adams directed the Idaho Board of Pharmacy starting in 2015, the Idaho Press reported. Adams previously served as vice president of pharmacy programs at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, a trade association in Arlington, Virginia, that represents over 40,000 pharmacies in the U.S, according to a news release last year from the governor's office.
When then-Idaho governor-elect Little named Adams budget chief in 2018, Little said Adams oversaw a nearly 40% reduction in the Idaho Board of Pharmacy's regulations that boosted jobs and expanded pharmacy services in underserved areas, the Associated Press reported.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is Idaho's largest state government agency, with a more than $5 billion budget that is mostly federally funded.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare runs social programs like Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Women and Infant Children program. The health department also provides public health services, regulates long-term care facilities, runs the state's mental health hospitals, provides child welfare and provides services for people with developmental disabilities.
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