William Toby, Jr.

William Toby Jr., who holds a master’s degree in health administration from Harvard University, a master’s degree in social work from Adelphi University, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Spanish from West Virginia State University, has been a private health care consultant specializing in Federal Relations since retiring from the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) in 1996.  Before that, he was HCFA’s regional administrator in the New York office since June 1977, except for a year and a half of detached service in Washington, D. C., from April 1992 through September 1993, when, at the request of the Secretary of Health & Human Services, he served as the Acting Administrator of HCFA, now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In that capacity, he directed the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs, which in 1993 helped pay medical bills for more than 67 million, or one of every four Americans, at a cost of $230 billion. This—then, the 12th largest governmental budget in the world–surpassed that of all but seven nations.

In his Federal regional post, Toby was responsible for Medicare and the federal share of the Medicaid program in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, with 1996 expenditures of close to $35 billion. Before becoming HCFA regional administrator, Toby was regional commissioner of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare’s Social and Rehabilitation Service (SRS).  Earlier, he held the post of deputy regional commissioner of SRS for more than six years. Prior to that, he served as intergovernmental relation’s officer in the New York City Mayor’s Office of, then, Mayor John Lindsay, for 18 months.  Toby first joined HEW’s New York Regional Office in 1968 as assistant to the regional director, after holding a key National Urban League post in New York City, reporting to the late Whitney Young Jr.

Mr. Toby was born in Augusta, Ga., and raised in Savannah and New York City.  A former high-school dropout, he completed high school in London, while serving with the Air Force in England during the Korean War.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and History from West Virginia State University, a master’s in social work from Adelphi University, and a master’s in public administration (Health Administration) from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He was elected to Sigma Delta PI, which is the National Spanish Honor Society in 1960, and holds certificates in advanced Spanish language studies from the University of León, León, Spain, and the University of Castilla/La Mancha in Toledo, Spain.

In 1988, the late President Ronald Reagan selected Toby for the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award, which followed Toby’s having received the HHS Award for Exceptional Achievement in 1982, a Gubernatorial Citation from Governor Hugh Carey of New York in 1982, and the HCFA Leadership Award in 1979. In 1982, he was awarded both the Adelphi University Alumnus of Distinction Award and the West Virginia State University Outstanding Alumnus award. In 1991, then, President George Bush appointed Toby a U.S. Delegate to the first and historic African-African American Summit, which was held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It brought together the heads of 4 African nations with distinguished African American leaders to discuss the Diaspora and how the American leaders could assist their ancestral homeland. In 1995, the Senate of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico passed an extraordinary resolution #1308 honoring Toby for his outstanding service to the Island of Puerto Rico. In 2002, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson appointed Toby to the prestigious HHS Advisory Committee on Regulatory Reform. In 1992, Toby was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine.  Later, in 2004, Toby was recommended by Adelphi University and selected by Minority Access, Inc. for its National Role Model Award in the field of science.

Toby has served on the board of overseers of New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, the board of Adelphi University’s School of Social Work, the board of the State University of New York College of Optometry, the Voter Education Project of Atlanta, a longtime member of the Hospital Advisory Council, New York State Senate, and the Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation.

Mr. Toby is one of the most traveled men in the world (139 countries), and is a member of the prestigious Travelers’ Century Club. He is married to Diane Anderson, of Aberdeen, S. D., and has three sons, Randy and twin sons, Kenneth and Michael.