The Senate on Thursday voted 51-47 to confirm Richard Topping as chief financial officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was nominated for the VA post in February.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who spoke on the Senate floor prior to the vote to support Topping’s confirmation, said, “I am grateful to Captain Topping for his willingness to continue serving his fellow veterans in this new capacity. I look forward to working with him to improve the lives of veterans, caregivers, survivors and military families in my home states of Kansas and across the country in the coming years.”
Who Is Richard Topping?
Topping is a seasoned health insurance, legal and finance executive specializing in managed healthcare and government contracting with extensive experience in executive management, strategic planning, corporate governance, profit and loss management, budget management, capital development, operations, team development, and mergers and acquisitions. He is also well-versed on matters regarding Medicaid, Medicare, Marketplace, Tricare and VA Community Care.
The new VA CFO most recently served as chief legal officer and president of CareSource. Before that, he was a special counsel at Mintz and CEO of Cardinal Innovations Healthcare for nine years. He was also a trial attorney for the Department of Health and Human Services and a counsel for the Center for Bioethics at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Topping served as a judge advocate and special assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Army.
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