Gretel Felton has been named Medicaid Deputy Commissioner for Beneficiary Services, succeeding former Deputy Commissioner Lee Rawlinson who retired in March. 

A graduate of Fisk University, Felton joined the state as a social worker with the Alabama Department of Human Resources in November 1988, and moved to the state Medicaid Agency in October 1991 to help oversee the rapid expansion of the SOBRA eligibility program, including the outstationing of more than 200 workers in all 67 counties.

During her tenure at Medicaid, she has served in multiple leadership positions within Family Certification, and in 2001 was named Director of Certification Support within Beneficiary Services. She was appointed as Director of Beneficiary Services’ Technical Support Division in January 2012 where she has most recently served as Medicaid’s eligibility project manager for the design, development and implementation of the state’s new Eligibility and Enrollment System.

Nationally recognized for her expertise in the area of Medicaid eligibility, Felton currently chairs a national technical assistance group established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and previously served as state representative for the 14-state Southern Consortium of CMS.