COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's nominee to run the state's cash-strapped Medicaid agency has won approval during his Senate confirmation hearing.
The Medical Affairs Committee on Thursday unanimously approved Anthony Keck to run the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The full Senate still must vote on his nomination.
The 43-year-old Keck is Haley's choice to run the agency that provides health care coverage for the state's elderly, disabled and poor.
He has been deputy secretary for Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals since October 2009.
Keck would take over an agency that has a $228 million deficit. The agency has said it will stop paying health care providers on March 1 if the state doesn't allow it to run a deficit.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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