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If a Medicaid employees greet you from now on with a nod and a smile but refuse to talk, they're not being rude. They're afraid for their jobs.

Over the last six weeks employees with the state Medicaid office have received a series of gag orders from Medicaid director Carol Steckel and managers.

The most recent came from Steckel, who wrote in an email Thursday that Medicaid staff should stop talking to legislative staff.

This appears to be a repeated order, since the subject on the email is "One more time."

"Please make sure EVERYONE in your area knows that any and ALL questions posed by anyone in the legislative body (policy and fiscal), including former employees, should be routed through (1) Rocky Thompson if it is legislative in nature and/or (2) Rick Friedman if it is budget/finance related.

"The next time someone responds inappropriately there will be significant personnel actions taken for both the supervisor and the person not complying with this policy."

Carol Steckel is the new director of the Medicaid office. She'll be coming from Louisiana, where she's director of the Center for Health Care Innovation at the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

She starts her new job on Jan. 22 at a salary of $210,000 a year.

Steckel will be in charge of the state Division of Medical Assistance, which runs the state's $12 billion Medicaid program. The government health insurance program covers about 1.8 million residents.

"Ms. Steckel has an extensive background in health policy and government, having served as commissioner of the Alabama Medicaid Agency and spearheading the state of Louisiana's response to the Affordable Care Act," said state Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Aldona Wos.