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Maryland Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott will leave the position she has held since the start of the Moore administration to make room for Meena Seshamani, who until recently was deputy administrator at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The governor’s office said Thursday that Herrera Scott, who has been secretary since January 2023, will stay until the end of this month, when she will be temporarily succeeded by Deputy Secretary for Health Care Financing Ryan Moran. Seshamani will take over on April 8, pending Senate approval of her appointment.
Herrera Scott’s departure comes as her agency is at the center of a budget storm, with a $200 million cut to the Developmental Disabilities Administration among the biggest single cuts as the state struggles to close a $3 billion gap in the fiscal 2026 budget. That proposal has sparked emotional rallies by members of the disabilities community as well as pushback from lawmakers.
The department last spring also announced that it had underestimated Medicaid expenses by $236 million, sending lawmakers scrambling to find funds in the final month of the legislative session. And Herrera Scott came under fire in December for her handling of complaints at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, a high-security hospital that has been riddled with complaints of patient abuse and violence.
Herrera Scott told lawmakers in December that previous staff “misled” her about conditions at Perkins, where there had been years of reports of neglect and mismanagement. She told a committee that she adopted “a very broken” health agency.
But in announcing the change in leadership Thursday, Gov. Wes Moore (D) said Herrera Scott “has laid a strong foundation at the Maryland Department of Health over the last two years and is to be commended for her service. My friend and fellow veteran has done this administration and her state proud.”
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Herrera Scott was secretary as the department worked to keep people insured in the post-pandemic Medicaid “unwinding,” and she worked to make Maryland the first state to partner with federal officials on the AHEAD model, which aims to control health care costs while improving outcomes, the governor’s office said.
Moore was effusive in his praise for Seshamani, however, who he said is “among the nation’s top health leaders – with an extraordinary career spanning expertise in public service, medical practice, economics, academia, and advocacy.”
“She has made our nation’s health care system fairer, more affordable, and more accessible to all — including our most vulnerable, from families in poverty to communities with disabilities,” Moore said in a prepared statement on the change. “We thank her for raising her hand to serve in this new role.”
Seshamani is a Hopkins-trained surgeon who was a head and neck surgeon at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, and she has a Ph.D. in economics from Oxford, according to the governor’s office. She is a former executive with MedStar.
As deputy administrator for CMS, the governor’s office said, she is credited with helping develop the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation program, and in working to allow Medicare to provide more holistic care and enhanced support for individuals with disabilities.
She would start April 8 — the day after the legislative session ends and decisions on the fiscal 2026 budget will have been made, including the unpopular DDA cuts.
Seshamani could serve as an interim appointment until the legislature reconvenes in 2026 and could consider her appointment, but Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Howard and Anne Arundel) said he expects Seshamani’s name to the Senate Executive Nominations Committee for approval this session for approval.
Lam, who chairs the committee acknowledged that a confirmation hearing and vote so far in advance of a start date would be “unusual.” While Seshamani would dodge the budget debate with an April 8 start date, Lam said she would likely face questions about her vision for the department moving forward if she has a hearing this session.
The Maryland Developmental Disabilities Coalition said in a statement Thursday said that the proposed cuts has “created an unprecedented challenge” for Marylanders with developmental disabilities their families, and community providers. The statement also said the coalition looks forward to working with Seshamani, when she takes the position.
“We remain hopeful that Secretary Dr. Laura Herrera Scott and soon-to-be Acting Secretary Dr. Ryan Moran will work with our community and the Maryland General Assembly to pass a budget that protects and preserves the rights and opportunities for people with developmental disabilities across Maryland,” according to the statement.
Herrara Scott’s departure marks the third change to Moore’s Cabinet this year — and the installation of a second former official in the Biden administration.
Two weeks ago it was announced that Maryland Commerce Secretary Kevin Anderson would depart the agency he has led since the early days of the Moore administration. Replacing him is Harry Coker Jr., a former high-ranking federal official, intelligence officer and retired Navy commander. Anderson will become an economic development adviser to the governor.
Last week, a spokesperson for the Department of Human Services confirmed to Maryland Matters that Secretary Rafael Lopez had taken a leave of absence. A reason for the absence and timeline for his return were not provided.
– This story was updated at 6 p.m. Thursday with administration confirmation of the change and additional details.
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.
