Alex Ruth

Background

About Alex Ruth

Alex Ruth joined the State of Arizona in 2022 and serves as the Justice Program Administrator for the state’s Medicaid Agency, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System She is responsible for developing functional partnerships with Arizona’s justice system stakeholders and overseeing the state’s justice reach-in program, which provides care coordination and resources in support of Medicaid members who are preparing for reentry. In addition, Alex participates as the agency’s subject matter expert for justice initiatives. She regularly presents on topical issues, including Arizona’s approach to new Consolidated Appropriations Act guidance and Arizona’s forthcoming Reentry Waiver proposal, which would allow justice involved individuals to leverage their Medicaid benefits pre-release. Prior to her current role, Alex served as a justice system liaison and court coordinator for a Managed Care Organization and as a forensic psychometrist and mental health evaluator within the Maricopa County jail system. These roles lent Alex an unadulterated view into the lives of individuals impacted by incarceration, and she continues to use her platform at the State to advocate for health equity and prioritize the health-related social needs of Medicaid members at all points of justice-involvement. Alex comes from a military family and had spent much of her life in Virginia and North Carolina before relocating to Arizona in 2014. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA) and a Master’s Degree in Forensic Psychology from Southern New Hampshire University.